


Love Me, My Brother!

by lunaryu (zeroshikidarkangel)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Family, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-25
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-17 00:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 83,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/545320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeroshikidarkangel/pseuds/lunaryu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Sasuke and Naruto are mortal enemies and rivals in their high school. However, 'things' happen when their single parent decided to marry each other! Now they're forced to live under the same roof! Will their feeling change into brotherly love or… something more?</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pilot: Marriage

**Author's Note:**

> I just realized that I have never posted it here. Ah, I hope this can be a better archive than ff net someday.  
> This is an AU story where Naruto and friends are in highs school in modern era. Hope this story will interest you to read and enjoy it till the end ^_^.  
>  **Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are Kishimoto-sensei's children. Luna only borrows the characters to play with**  
>  **Warning:** _High-school!AU, foul language, shounen ai—yaoi (SasuNaru and the others), violence, possible oOC and gangster things… Oh, and because this is self-beta, you might find grammars and spelling errors, but I hope it won't be too many…_

  
**Pilot:** _**Marriage** _  


* * *

"Wait a damn sec, you- _Teme_ —, that's my pasta bread! Give it back!" Uzumaki Naruto, a hot, spiky blond haired with three scars resembling whiskers on each cheek and wore untidy black _Gakuran_ (1), yelled at a raven haired boy with white Gakuran.

The said raven was in the middle of paying for the bread in his hand in a canteen of their school. Naruto mercilessly pointed his forefinger at the raven white seething, sending a deadly glare which was totally ignored by the stoic boy in front of him.

"What are you saying, _Dobe_? I pay for it, so it's mine," Uchiha Sasuke said with a cool expression, seemingly very nonchalant about the boisterous accusation he was facing.

Then, in the background behind the two boys were the girls and a few boys, squealing at Sasuke with heart-shaped pupils in their eyes. In comparison, somehow they also looked obviously murderous at Naruto.

_Asshole!_ —Naruto thought, very much irked at the display of discrimination by their schoolmates and generally at Sasuke's bored response and ignorance.

"I found it first!" Naruto yelled stubbornly, determined to rile Sasuke up no matter what.

"There's no point on finding without taking and paying, you moron," Sasuke insulted, of course with that super annoying arrogant face. Moreover, that smirk… oh how Naruto wanted to rip his face apart just so he could wipe that condescending smirk off of his expression.

"You-ass—!" Naruto decided to throw the first punch at the conceited Uchiha when Sasuke's fans club hurriedly gathered between the two boys to prevent Naruto violating their dear prince charming Sasuke.

_Ugh, gross!_ —Naruto almost hurl at the thought of Sasuke as Prince Charming.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on our Sasuke-kun, you-outcast!" Haruno Sakura, a pink haired girl who was leading Sasuke's Fans Club cracked her knuckles fearsomely, making Naruto gulp nervously as he noticed a tale-tale of violence on the tip of her fist and tongue.

_Damn! And she's cute too!_ —Naruto lamented inwardly. He had a crush on her before, but she obviously only had eyes for Sasuke, so he didn't pursue his one-sided attraction anymore, especially when she already considered him as a nemesis just because he HATED Uchiha Sasuke. _Damn that bastard!_

"Yeah, or we will beat the shit out of you!" Yamanaka Ino, the blond haired girl beside Sakura –she was the vice president of Sasuke's Fans Club, by the way– added while threatening him with a dagger glare as well.

_Ugh!_ —Naruto actually wondered why Sasuke was very popular among girls. Although it might have something to do with his face ( _such girly face_ _too_!), but his personality SUCKED big time. Such nature wasn't supposed to be allowed to exist in humanity, damn it!

Actually, Naruto was pretty much irritated at those moronic fans (how come they were so easily duped by the raven was beyond him), but he didn't want to hit girls. Even if he was a leader of a certain gang, he forbade himself to hit the weaklings. That was his code and principle that he wouldn't break no matter what. So he tried to suppress his anger _hard_ , so he wouldn't explode at them as well.

The guys (also Sasuke's fans, whom Naruto suspected to be gay for Sasuke) were another thing, though. He would kick their asses later for daring to insult Naruto with those name-callings. Naruto also had a pride to hold as a leader of a gang, damn it!

But then, a light bulb flickered in Naruto's head. "Huh, the mighty Uchiha Sasuke is a weakling who can only hide behind his fans when someone challenges him to a fight. Definitely a _cowa~rd_ ," Naruto sang a self-made-song, smirking evilly to insult the pride of an Uchiha, which according to his knowledge was more important than his (Uchiha's) life itself.

Sasuke's eyebrow visibly twitched when he heard that. "Just now… what did you say…?" Sasuke asked, voice tone eerily low, his aura darkening, his long bangs creating creepy shadow on his face, adding the dark look he already possessed even without feeling pissed off.

Naruto realized fully that his provocation was working. "I said you're a weakling! A coward!" the blonde's smirk widened, bit by bit undoing Sasuke's temper.

"You bastard _—_!" Sasuke finally lost it, and yelled "Move away!" at his fans, before suddenly jumping Naruto to hit him.

Then… blows of exchanged kicks and punches between Sasuke and Naruto exploded _again_ at the canteen in the center building of Konoha Private High School.

**#**

Konoha Academy was the biggest private high school in Konoha City. It was built up a hill in the center of the city with three buildings as the main areas complemented with two gyms, a swimming pool facility, a tennis court, a baseball/soccer field, and two big halls for school events. The main buildings consisted of West Building, East Building and Center Building. Each building had its own certain functions. Both West and East buildings were used as classrooms for the students, while the Center Building hosted the teacher's offices, the head master's office and some miscellaneous rooms for the students' organization and extracurricular activities.

Konoha Academy used two kinds of Gakurans: black Gakuran for the students whose classes were located at the East Building and white Gakuran for the students studying in the West Building.

Huh? Why were there two Gakurans?

Well, it was because there were two types of students in Konoha Academy: the trouble makers and the strictly-rule-oriented good kids. The trouble makers, like Naruto and Gaara, for examples, wore black Gakurans because they wanted to (free spirit, yeah), and black suited them more than white (they claimed) anyway. White Gakuran suited the prodigies and the smart bookworms, like Sasuke and Neji more (although they would make your life a living hell if you called them bookworms).

Those black and white uniformed students had separate classes too. White uniform studied in West Building while black uniform was in East Building. The only time they mingled together were when it was their club activities, which was dominated by the whites since most the blacks either didn't like to crowd or was just plain lazy to do extra activities after school. Well, most of the blacks hung out together in small groups sometimes, once in awhile harassing the whites.

In short, East Building and West Building students never got along with each other. They bickered and fought most of the time when they met. That's why there was a boss for each building to control their actions, purposely to keep the school in order.

Uzumaki Naruto was the boss of East Building since he was very strong and good at fighting (and somehow, trouble makers found him charismatic and street-smart that they were willing to follow him), while Uchiha Sasuke led the West Building students. In addition, Sasuke doubled as the Student Council's President of Konoha Academy as well since he was ridiculously smart and athletic to boot. Plus, he was a master of political organization and was very loved by the teachers for never breaking school rules ( _the git_ ). In short, Sasuke was the elitist amongst the elite students that wore white Gakuran.

Naruto hated Sasuke for that.

Obviously, the two bosses didn't get along with each other as well. They even claimed to be mortal nemesis. Their personality was like fire and water, cat and dog, sky and earth (you named it) and they always fought over _any reason_ (no matter how petty it is) they could come up with.

It didn't matter how elite Sasuke was or how outcast Naruto was, the two of them just _loved_ to harass each other (and their followers rooted them for it). In other word, this school was a synonym of a mess itself.

**#**

"Haaah, this is again…, how troublesome," Nara Shikamaru, a brunet whose hair was tied high in pony tail, wearing black Gakuran, let out a long suffering sigh with a bored looking face from the table.

"Good! Punch him in his face, Naruto! Aaah, almost! No, your back! Kick there!" Inuzuka Kiba, a spiky black haired boy, who was also in black Gakuran and had fangs like a dog (and he always brought his white puppy, Akamaru) shouted, rooting for Naruto excitedly in the uproar when Sasuke and Naruto were fighting.

"Aaah, stop him, Gaara," Sikamaru whined at an expressionless, shorter, red haired boy who had a tattoo of Kanji ' _love_ ' on his forehead. Of course he wore the same colored Gakuran as Shikamaru and Kiba as well.

Sunano Gaara merely stared at the heated fight silently for a few more minutes before he stood from his seat and headed to Naruto and Sasuke in the middle of the already disarrayed canteen.

"Shino, stop Sasuke now!" Hyuuga Neji, a beautiful pale-skinned boy who had long smooth black hair in white Gakuran, shouted at another male, his friend, Aburame Shino, a taller boy whose hair was spiky, short and black. Shino wore sunglasses and dressed in the same Gakuran as Neji and Sasuke. However, the collar of his uniform was much higher than the others. It reached up until it covered his lower face.

Shino was just as silent as Gaara when he approached the violence. His slightly covered face (courtesy of his sunglasses and his high collar) made people difficult to see his expression, but others regarded him as a very calm and rational boy nonetheless (strong too, since he was in executive committee).

While Sasuke and Naruto were still doing a number on each other viciously and mercilessly, Gaara and Shino suddenly cut their connection with a chop on their respective heads, effectively stopping them from moving further to hurt each other.

"Stop it, Uzumaki. You make a mess of the canteen and bother _us_ ," Gaara said while looking down at the blond coldly. Naruto seemed stunned at that.

"Uchiha, stop it already. Remember, you're the president of student council. It will not be a good example for the others, fighting in such place," Shino reminded with cool voice too. Sasuke looked at him with a dumfounded expression.

Both Sasuke and Naruto were shocked for a moment before they noticed each other's presence and growled, thrusting out their tongues at each other with angry childish expression.

_They act like five year old…._

The others students thought in unison, sweat dropping as Shino pulled Sasuke away from Naruto and Gaara did the same to Naruto who was still struggling because he seemed still dissatisfied before killing the object of his frustration.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

—Later in Naruto's class, 1-D, at the East Building—

"Damn, that Sasuke-bastard! Pisses me off so much! That arrogant, selfish ice-prick! And the most annoying thing is: he thinks he's the fucking smartest, hottest person in the surface of earth! His annoying fans club doesn't help by making his ego grows to the size of the fucking moon too! Someone should kill all of them!" Naruto grumbled and grunted at no one in particular, actually. He just need to curse, insult and name-call Sasuke in undertone so he could feel better. But alas, somehow he was growing increasingly angry with each word.

Naruto's gang members looked at him ridiculously.

" _Maa, maa_ , calm down, boss, we can easily ambush him in his way home and beat the shit out of him together," Sunano Kankuro, Gaara's elder brother who was at second year (and also one of Naruto's gang members) drawled lazily in evil smirk.

Naruto visibly twitched as he heard the suggestion. He turned his face and narrowed his eyes at the older boy whose face was painted rather interestingly with red lines which ran from below his eyes to above his chin.

Slowly standing and then walking approaching the said second year, Naruto reached out and grabbed Kankuro's collar, yanking it forward harshly. "Don't you dare suggest me to beat him with such dirty trick, Kankuro!" the blond hissed at him, not even bothering to address the older boy with _senpai_.

"There's no point in kicking Sasuke's ass if he doesn't even acknowledge his defeat! I'll make that prideful bastard kneel down before me and cry, begging for my mercy in _one on one_ fight, damn it!" Naruto shoved the sweating Kankuro back to his seat and then snapped when he seemed to remember something. He turned around and walked away from the stunned out classmates.

"Where are you going, Naruto?" Kiba called him when he realized that Naruto was getting out of the class.

"Infirmary, I have to treat these stupid wounds before Iruka-sensei's class starts. He will give me a detention if he knows I fought _again_ ," Naruto said before sliding the door closed. A hint of blush stained his bruised cheeks from Sasuke's hard punches.

…

…

"Man… do you see his face? Even though he is _our_ boss, why does he have a decency to worry about getting detention from Sensei to that extent?" Temari, Gaara's elder sister from third year asked while shaking her head.

"He doesn't suit this position at all. East Building is a place for extraordinary people with abnormal personality like us; cruel and unmerciful to anyone. Still, why did we choose him to be our leader again…?" Kankuro followed, asking while sighing in defeat as well.

"Simple. We fell for his personality," Gaara smirked slightly. Temari, Kankuro and Kiba stared at the redhead as if he had lost his head.

"Sappy much?" Shikamaru yawned and Gaara kicked his shin for that involuntary insult.

Though, despite whining while nursing his abused foot, Shikamaru could still fall asleep on his desk within three minutes after his head hit the surface. He even snored to announce his withdrawal from the living world to the la-la land.

"That lazy ass…," Kiba rolled his eyes, face faulting, and sweat dropping from the others' faces as well in response to that.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Ouch, can you please be gentler?" Sasuke scowled rather tensely at the infirmary doctor, Tsunade, a very beautiful, busty blond middle age woman with an appearance of twenty year old, who was currently treating his wounds.

"Shut up brat! It's your own damn fault for fighting in canteen with another student! Jeez—, you're supposed to be a leader, a Student Council's President! What in the world were you thinking, fighting so brutally like that?" Tsunade asked, or more like scolding him, jabbing disinfected cotton on Sasuke's tender flesh on his upper arm, sounding totally annoyed.

"The boss of East Building started it! That total-moron Naruto, the stupid looking blonde who thinks he's the strongest, sexiest guy in the world! He dared to insult my pride! An Uchiha, damn it!" Sasuke actually complained, totally infuriated.

"What did you say—?!"

Sasuke snapped as a familiar voice was suddenly heard from behind. He turned around slightly and found Naruto standing on the infirmary doorstep while cracking his knuckles and sent Sasuke a nasty glare.

Sasuke pulled his arm away from Tsunade before he stood from his seat and returned the challenge with a scrutinizing gaze. "So you're here to cry in pain after I beat the shit out of you, huh, total moron?" Sasuke taunted the blond, sneering.

"Asshole!" Naruto almost threw a punch at Sasuke again when suddenly Tsunade, with her monstrous power, pulled him and Sasuke at the same time knocking their foreheads against each other… _hard_ , producing a loud satisfying thumping sound.

"AAARGH!" Sasuke and Naruto cried painfully in unison as they felt the stars suddenly spun around their head at the impact of the blow.

"Wha—what the hell are you doing, old hag!?" Naruto yelled at her while covering his abused forehead, trying to nurse the bump, looking pained and annoyed at the same time. He seemed to be dizzy after the sudden crash with Sasuke's head.

"Instead of bickering all the times, why don't you just kiss each other and go on date or something? Your loud yapping voices are grating on my nerves!" Tsunade shouted at them back as fiercely, eyebrows twitching dangerously. She really didn't like the after-event-mess the boys usually created after their stupid fights.

Naruto and Sasuke's face paled slightly at the telltale sign of violence she promised them before they seemed to register her words and blew up crimson like a ripe tomato, apparently having a decency to feel embarrassed at Tsunade's choice of – _ **kiss each other-**_ and – _ **go on date**_ _-_ phrases.

"Why the hell must I kiss him and go on a _date_ with him!?" Naruto looked officially horrified, pointing at Sasuke disgustedly.

"Instead of dating him, I prefer dating my dog," Sasuke scoffed, making a sick expression after hearing such mortifying suggestion.

"Then, stop bickering and make up! And let me treat your wounds peacefully!" Tsunade shouted even louder, glaring murderously at the boys who seemed to feel intimidated at her aura.

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other warily before reluctantly agreeing to have a momentary truce and shutting their mouth, just because they didn't want to end up as fishcakes in Pacific Ocean for antagonizing Tsunade more than they already had. She almost lost the _last_ string called patience in her mind, and she was positive that she would likely kill them instead of treating their wounds unless they cooperated with her.

"Yes Ma'am," Naruto and Sasuke begrudgingly responded to her order and Tsunade huffed out a satisfied sigh as she finally could work peacefully.

The boys sat quietly in front of Tsunade, scowls still adorning their faces while Tsunade was treating their wounds. Ten minutes later, the procedure was done, and they were about to come back to their own classrooms when suddenly Naruto's father, _Uzumaki Arashi (2)_ entered the infirmary.

"Huh, Dad? What are you doing here?" Naruto widened his eyes in surprise to see the older blond man who looked just like Naruto, only more mature.

"I knew you'd be here," Arashi said with a small smile, shaking his head in defeat after seeing the bruises and bandages on Naruto's body.

"What is it? If it's about these bruises, I let you know that I fought to protect my dignity," Naruto said, putting cutely.

"Dignity over a piece of pasta bread," Sasuke snorted, smirking while looking at the other way.

"Shut up, Sasuke! I heard you, asshole!" Naruto yapped and glared daggers at Sasuke again, face suspiciously turning a bit pink either in anger or in embarrassment.

"Sasuke?" Arashi blinked, raising his eyebrow slightly upon hearing Sasuke's name. "Ah, are you Uchiha Sasuke?" he asked as he noticed Sasuke's presence there.

"Err, yeah," Sasuke answered slowly, nodding slightly.

"So, you are _the_ Sasuke-kun. I heard about you a lot from Naruto," Arashi chuckled slightly with a friendly look as he eyed the raven haired boy up and down, looking amused and interested.

"Eh?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow back, looking slightly dumbfounded.

Naruto snapped when his father suddenly mentioned his name. "Wait a sec,Dad!?" the younger blonde seemed to panic for some reasons, seeming to try to stop his father embarrassing him farther in front of Sasuke, but failed miserably because Arashi was taller and stronger than him to keep him away from their conversation.

"He always talked about you when we had dinner together. He said you were the only person who could work him up in school," Arashi grinned as he saw his son's mortified slowly reddening face.

"Dad!" Naruto yelled at him childishly, face completely red now, that somehow made Sasuke stare at him, seeming to be astonished and probably thinking that Naruto looked extremely adorable right then.

Sasuke gasped and kicked his head mentally when he seemed to realize about what he was thinking just now.

The raven coughed slightly. "So…, you actually admire me, eh… Naruto?" Sasuke asked then, looking completely arrogant and was that a teasing smirk on his face?

"Who the hell admires you, bastard?!" Naruto retaliated, looking totally embarrassed and angry at the same time. He seemed very keen to hit Sasuke again at this point, but since his father was there with a vice-like grip on his shoulder, Naruto could only clench and un-clench his fist.

"Arashi, you really like teasing your own son," Tsunade chuckled seeing the soap opera before her eyes.

"Aah, Tsunade- _hime_ , I'm sorry for my rudeness. Should have greeted you first," Arashi then turned to face her, smiling his 'marketing smile' while keeping his left grip secure on Naruto's shoulder. Then he took Tsunade's hand with his right hand and kissed the back of her palm while closing his eyes gently.

Sasuke and Naruto were floored at the sight before them. Even Naruto seemed to forget his anger towards Sasuke and hugged Sasuke in reaction of his shock. Sasuke did the same when he seemed to be flabbergasted as well by it.

Well, addressing Tsunade who was very famous with her monstrous power as 'hime' would freak people out. Only Arashi would do something like that despite knowing her very well. Tsunade shook her head at his antic.

Sasuke and Naruto were sweating bullets as Tsunade and Arashi chatted like old friends.

"Is your father a host or something?" Sasuke's disbelieving voice was heard, whispering tentatively.

"Hell if I know," Naruto's hushed answer was pretty much showing his discomfort as well.

They didn't seem to realize that were still hugging each other's bodies until Arashi once again turned to face his son and his friend, raising his eyebrows while smiling in amusement. Tsunade chuckled as well at seeing the two boy's very close distance.

"Hmm…. The two of you are pretty close, aren't you? You get along so well," Arashi commented, setting a cheery face, sounding very pleased.

"Huh?" Naruto and Sasuke looked upward at the older blond weirdly before they turned their gaze at each other and upon realizing their position; they shrieked and scrambled away from each other as if the others' body was on fire.

"Why the hell did you hug me, you pervert?!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke while blushing furiously.

"That's my line, you asshole!" Sasuke yelled back, looking scandalized as well.

"What did you say!?"

"What!?"

"Ok, boys, stop the love quarrel now and follow me please," Arashi said, laughing amusedly while tugging Naruto's back collar to move.

Sasuke and Naruto's face flushed even harder at that and they shouted in unison to deny that. "We are NOT!"

"Yes, yes, ah, Sasuke-kun too, your mother is waiting for you in teachers' office," Arashi added in dismissing manner, still with his amused smile, totally ignoring their protest.

"Huh? Mother is here?" Sasuke looked very surprised at that news.

"Yup, there's something we'd like to discuss with you guys," Arashi said rather mysteriously. "Come on. See you later, Tsunde-hime!" he then pulled Naruto and Sasuke out of the infirmary while waving at Tsunade.

Tsunade of course saw the way Sasuke and Naruto glance at each other, raising their eyebrows oddly and wonderingly.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Arashi, Naruto and Sasuke walked on the hallway from the infirmary in Center Building to the teachers' office. In front of the office was a beautiful woman with pale fair skin and smooth long black hair, standing quietly in a calm, elegant feature.

Naruto dropped his jaw in a shock when Sasuke ran to her and called her, "Mother!"

The woman, Uchiha Mikoto, turned her face and smiled gently at her son. "Sasuke, dear, I've been waiting for you," she said with her motherly soft voice.

_Impossible! She's his mom!?_ —Naruto thought in utter disbelief.

Arashi looked at his son in feeble smile before he greeted Mikoto too. "Hello, Mikoto-san," Arashi waved his hand at Mikoto and she immediately noticed him.

"Arashi-san!" Mikoto's expression lit up like a Christmas tree, looking very happy and sparkling as she saw the handsome blond man who smiled very charmingly at her.

"Your mother and my father knew each other?" Naruto whispered at Sasuke, totally dumbfounded, while staring at the view in total disbelief.

"Don't ask me. It's the first time I've seen her _like that_!" Sasuke replied in the same undertone, seeming completely thunderstruck as well.

Mikoto and Arashi talked for awhile in a very nice, warm atmosphere around them that Naruto (and maybe Sasuke as well) grew rather uncomfortable seeing it. They smiled at each other tenderly as well before they nodded and then turned to face Sasuke and Naruto.

"We should let them know now, as the day is coming closer," Mikoto suddenly suggested.

"You're right. Should we ask them out to get lunch together?" Arashi offered.

"Good idea, Arashi-san," Mikoto said nodding softly.

Then Arashi walked to the teachers' office to ask for permission to take Sasuke and Naruto home early. Naruto and Sasuke couldn't help looking at each other again, increasingly getting anxious of what was happening.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

A short time later, Arashi, Mikoto, Sasuke and Naruto were already seated at a round table of a certain family restaurant in Konoha City together. Naruto and Sasuke fidgeted uncomfortably on their seats as Arashi and Mikoto preferred to order their foods and drinks first before starting the conversation of why they were there.

"Actually…, what are we doing here?" Sasuke, feeling he couldn't ask his mother, directed the question to Naruto, a bead of sweat prickling out his face.

"If you ask me then… to whom should I ask?" Naruto asked back.

"Useless moron," Sasuke grunted while sighing in defeat.

"Arrogant bastard," Naruto retaliated slowly, insulting him back.

Then they glared at each other again.

"Alright, let's do this," Arashi began. Sasuke and Naruto snapped out of their silent bickering and gave their attention fully to their parents.

"Well, actually… we have been seeing each other for a long time now, right?" Mikoto informed the children, and then smiled at Arashi.

"Yep, we even have talked about ourselves to each other and realized that we actually have many things in common. We also realized that we need the same thing too, the companion of each other," Arashi said, supporting Mikoto's words with a light chuckle.

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked further. He didn't know why, but somehow… he had a bad feeling about this, while Naruto was just staring at them, seeming to have no clue at all about what they were talking about.

"Hmm…, how about we shorten everything more clearly?" Arashi glanced at Mikoto. She nodded in _'it can't be helped'_ kind of look. "Ok, listen carefully, you two," he began again, "The two of us… have decided to get married," he continued.

There was a long, thick, pregnant silence as Sasuke and Naruto tried to register the word _**the two of them had decided to get married**_...

…

! #$%^&*ASDFGHJKL _ **MARRIED!?**_

"EEEEEEEEEH!?"

Then the united very loud screech of the two shocked senior high school boys echoed throughout the all the rooms of the shaking restaurant, creating a small scale local earthquake in Konoha City.

**End of Prologue**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**Side Notes:**

(1) _Gakuran:_ kind of uniform, usually at a private high school in Japan

(2) _Uzumaki Arashi_ : I'm completely aware that Namikaze Minato is Naruto's father's name, but for the sake of the plot, he will be using this name before Namikaze Minato's name will be revealed in much-much later chapters (there will be suspense here too, dear readers!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, since many people nag me to repost this story (which I wonder why, by the way. It was completely hideous when I reread it), I decided to post it again. Yes, I rewrote it because the previous wordings were very bad. I hope I made it better this time.  
> Well, I need feedback from you, readers, again. Don't hesitate to point my errors since I want to make this as improved and best as possible so you won't get bored rereading this story, okay?


	2. Chapter 1: Pride or Happiness?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Naruto and Sasuke spun their heads in the dilemma of their parents remarriage...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter. I also edited it again to make sure that this story is making sense. Enjoy ^_^  
>  **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**  
>  **Warning: _foul language and violence for this chapter._**

  
**Chapter 1:** _**Pride or Happiness?** _   


* * *

"Hmm…" Naruto hummed slightly while closing his eyes, frowning and thinking hard so seriously that all of his gang members had to look at him oddly.

"Hoi, Naruto!" Kiba suddenly smacked Naruto's head, freaking the hell out of him.

"What the fuck, Kiba!?" Naruto yelled at him angrily, totally shocked and flushed. "What the hell was that for, bastard?!"

"You're going to break your head, thinking so hard like that. Your brain will short-circuit, trust me," Kiba said while rolling his eyes.

"What?!" Naruto stood abruptly, irritated beyond belief, and of course epically having a sudden urge to punch Kiba in the face. Too bad, the dog boy seemed to realize the upcoming violence because he immediately dashed to run away before Naruto could catch up.

"That asshole—!" Naruto fisted his _trembling_ right hand in front of his face, really annoyed.

"What's wrong, boss? You seem unwell," Shikamaru asked, his tone and expression bored as always before he suddenly yawned and then miraculously fell asleep again.

Naruto's sweat dropped seeing that. "Sheesh, don't even ask if you don't even want to know the answer, you lazy ass," he grumbled, jabbing Shikamaru's side while the sleeping teen just snored in response.

Naruto sighed deeply and slumped at his desk, groaning slightly. This was really exhausting and frustrating.

"Naruto, is there something wrong?" Gaara stood from his seat before making his way to Naruto's, raising his very thin, almost not existent, eyebrows at him. For once he looked curious despite his indifferent tone.

"It's nothing important," Naruto replied slowly, averting his gaze from Gaara's searching look.

It was always difficult to hide something from the redhead, and Naruto was sure Gaara would _nag_ him to spill his problem in a very Gaara's way: keep staring at Naruto with his creepy _tanuki_ eyes until Naruto squirmed.

Gaara didn't say anything at first, only narrowing his eyes before letting out a light huff and said, "We _will_ talk properly again later _when_ you decide to tell me," he said as he retreated back to his seat and started his mission in boring a hole on the back of Naruto's head.

_See? Gaara is troublesome like that. Ugh_ —Naruto heaved out a long suffering sigh while lamenting inwardly afterwards.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Meanwhile, Sasuke was also thinking gravely regarding the event the day before. He sighed slightly on his chair, and then –as much as he didn't want to admit it– fidgeted. He radiated his uneasiness to everyone who was available around him in his class.

"I wonder what happened to Sasuke-kun…."

Of course Sasuke was completely aware that everyone was staring at him, especially the girls. Just now, it was Sakura whispering to Ino who was sitting beside her. Both of them looked kind of worried, as well as the others, but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to care about that. His problem was more important than maintaining image for those fans of his anyway.

"You don't think it's a love problem, do you?" Ino speculated now and Sakura widened her eyes in shock.

"Eeh? No way! Sasuke-kun has love interest?!"

"WHAT?!"

"Nooooo! Sasuke-kuuuun!"

"Who is it!?"

Instantly, a deafening uproar broke out from Sasuke's class which was pretty much ignored by Sasuke because it was moronic to even consider it harmful. Who would care if he had love interest, which he _doesn't_ , by the way. The rumor immediately spread like wildfire to the entire school, courtesy of his fanatic fans club. Not that Sasuke cared.

_About yesterday… what should I do?—_ Sasuke let out a heavy sigh again in defeat. Honestly, it was the first time that he actually thought that he didn't know what to do because he was perplexed.

After all, yesterday was…

" _EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?"_ _Sasuke and Naruto screeched together, viciously loud and seriously freaked out by the news._

" _B-both of you… are getting married?!" Sasuke was shocked, utterly, definitely, absolutely flabbergasted. At that time, Naruto instantly fainted because he couldn't take the shock very well._

" _Yes, we have decided that," Arashi said while smiling cheerily. He didn't seem to care very much that Naruto's mouth was foaming, passing out on his seat now, pretty much dead from the world._

" _Since I met Arashi-san, I feel like a high school girl again with a first love!" Mikoto said, clasping her hands in front of her face while smiling dreamily. She looked very happy and very pretty. Indeed, a woman in love was the prettiest of all…_

_Huh? No, wait! I was distracted!—Sasuke shook his head curtly to clear his mind before looking at his mother and her boyfriend while gulping, sweating slightly._

" _Are you serious?" Sasuke couldn't help asking_ _since he still felt like hanging his jaw open mouthed in disbelief and total denial. Seriously! It was his mother they were talking about, damn it! His mother who looked like she was love-sick for a man Sasuke just met today, and worse… it was NARUTO'S FATHER for crying out loud!_

" _B-but… I haven't known…! I meant, why so suddenly?" Sasuke didn't want to look like he was freaking out even though he pretty much was. He tried to calm himself down, though. But it didn't seem to work because he stuttered, damn it! This was a complete disaster!_

" _Well, obviously it's because we don't want to see you turn into 'that'," Arashi pointed at Naruto, who was still completely out, with his index finger, chuckling while shaking his head ruefully._

_Sasuke twitched as he saw that and shouted, "Wake up, you-dead last!" while smacking Naruto's blond head, hard._

" _OW! What the fuck?!" Naruto snapped in surprise and in pain at the same time. He was slowly back to reality again when he looked around at his father, then at Mikoto, and then at Sasuke in slightly dumbfounded expression._

_Ten seconds later, "Aaaah! That's right! Both of you are going to marry each other!" Naruto suddenly shouted at them, seeming to just remember about that particular news. "You've got to be joking! Do you really want to go with that plan?!" Naruto immediately bombarded the couple with questions in total panic. He even flailed his hands to emphasize his point._

" _Yes," Arashi responded in a wide smile, not affected at all by Naruto's loud voice since Sasuke could see no doubt in his eyes._

_Naruto turned to look at Sasuke in a bewildered look, but Sasuke sure as hell couldn't do anything about it since Sasuke himself was still in a state of disbelief._

" _I know this seems very sudden for both of you, but the talk about marriage between us actually started six months ago after we were going out for three months. We also realized that it will be somehow hard for you two, so we decided to give you options as well," Arashi softened his expression, looking at Naruto and Sasuke understandingly._

" _Yes," Mikoto said, nodding supportively. "If both Sasuke and Naruto-kun can't agree with this decision no matter what, we can cancel the marriage. We don't actually have to marry each other to be together. But… having each other as a proper family will make us happier," she added in her gentlest smile._

" _Eh? But… cancelling the marriage when you clearly love each other is…!" Naruto seemed even more befuddled as he responded to what Mikoto said._

" _Naruto, no matter how much we love each other, if our children don't feel happy with the love we share, we won't be happy entirely. Our most important people are our children. That's why…, if you don't want to have new mother, I will not marry her," Arashi said, looking very much like a loving father he was._

" _It goes for you too, Sasuke," Mikoto added, looking at Sasuke with motherly expression as well._

_Sasuke and Naruto were obviously amazed seeing Arashi and Mikoto's love towards each other and towards them, their children. They didn't say anything, more like…they couldn't say anything to respond to such declaration of affection fast enough. They, especially Sasuke, needed to think about it first._

_There was a brief silence between the two families before "Give us times to think," Sasuke said, trying to act casually, like an adult since he had more self control than Naruto who seemed to twitch in response to Sasuke's sudden words._

" _Sure, Sasuke-kun," Arashi replied soothingly._

" _Naruto-kun too, you can take your time and think about it thoroughly," Mikoto said reassuringly as well._

So… that's what happened. That's why Sasuke and probably Naruto as well were in dilemma now. If they agreed with their parents' decision, Sasuke and Naruto would become step brothers.

_Hell no!_

Sasuke was sure that he and Naruto shared that thought. There was just no way in hell it would work between them, Sasuke and Naruto… as brothers, living under the same roof. They were even sick at the fact that they attended the same school since they had to deal with each other during the day. Imagine what kind of disaster would occur if they had to face each other during the night too!

…

_But still…—_ Sasuke sighed deeply once again.

Despite Sasuke and Naruto's extreme dislike to each other, there was nothing bad to have a new father for Sasuke. He didn't hate the idea of having someone who would complete their family. Arashi-san looked nice, wise, and Sasuke had seen how much he loved Sasuke's mother and judging from Naruto's attitude towards the man, he seemed very much reliable, someone who Sasuke could talk to if it was necessary. He had a strange confidence that Arashi would treat him like he treated Naruto… as his own son, equally.

Moreover, Sasuke wanted to see his mother happy. It was already more than ten years since he saw Mikoto so delighted like yesterday. She must have loved Arashi very much if she could act like that in front of Sasuke. Mikoto had dedicated her time and love solely to Sasuke since she and Sasuke's father divorced. Sasuke somehow wanted to give something back to her. And for the love of God, if Arashi could make her the happiest woman in the world, Sasuke would give up the world so they could be together.

_Even though I have to endure Naruto's presence as well in the house_ —Sasuke scrunched his face, feeling rather disgusted at the idea. But he had to be able to handle that feeling because if he objected his mother and Arashi's decision, they would surely cancel the marriage.

Sasuke absolutely had no doubt that he was still number one in Mikoto's heart. But… not being able to be together with the one she loved would surely hurt her. Would Sasuke bear seeing his mother broken hearted?

_No. Dear God, I would never bear it…._

Sasuke realized fully that he would never be able to handle it if he saw his mother crying because of it. He would feel so guilty and wouldn't be able to sleep at night. He'd rather fighting Naruto days and nights rather than seeing his mother's sad look.

Well, Sasuke pretty much had everything figured out, his decision and everything… the problem now was if Naruto would agree with that as well… they, the arc-nemesis, living under the same roof…?

Sasuke couldn't help shuddering unpleasantly at that thought. It would be a very hard decision for the both of them to make, indeed.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"AAAAARGH! Forget it! I can't take it anymore!" Naruto finally exploded in a frustrated yell. He stood up from his seat while covering the two sides of his head with both hands.

"What is it now?" Shikamaru asked, still looking extremely bored out of his mind as he turned to face Naruto who promptly ignored him because his concentration was pretty much occupied at that moment.

_Damn it! I've known since a long time ago that thinking too much is NOT for me! Still, this one is too complicated even for a genius! I can't pick one from the options! I want Dad to be happy with the one he loves, but I never expect that the one he loves is… SASUKE'S mother! Why the hell must it be her!? I don't want to be Sasuke's brother! Hell no! Never in million years! But… Mikoto-san is a good woman. I can tell! Heck, even the dumbest person will see that. She is a perfect figure of a mother that every kid wants! She is beautiful, gentle, smart and elegant like Yamato Nadeshiko. No wonder Dad loves her so much. If I don't agree with their decision, Dad will…!_

Naruto shivered, not wanting to think about that farther _._ Thinking about his father and how much the older male had gone through after that _incident_ in their family a year before always brought back horrifying memory. Naruto just didn't want to remember it. He quickly shook his head and focused his slightly distracted mind back to the main problem at hand.

_But… it's a total miracle that a gentle kind woman like Mikoto-san has a son like Sasuke. How can that be anyway!? Maybe Sasuke hit his head somewhere that his personality turned horrible…._

"Crap. This isn't going anywhere!" Naruto shouted again, more frustrated than before because he still really HATED the idea of living together with Sasuke as… as….

_Step brothers. YUCK!_ —Naruto honestly wanted to barf at his own thought.

"Stop it, Naruto." Sudenly a hard smack from _Gaara_ landed on Naruto's head.

"Oww! What the hell, Gaara?! It's you now! Why does everyone like hitting my head?! " Naruto immediately complained at the red head while nursing his abused head painfully, almost crying. And no, it wasn't because of the pain. Well, maybe it was, a little, but he was in the verge of crying out loud more because he was still aggravated, confused about his choice regarding his dad's re-marriage.

Gaara though, only narrowed his eyes at Naruto, looking slightly irked. "You always get carried away by your own thought and never think about the others around you. Do you even realize that you inconvenience us with your foolish exploding shout? If you have something that trouble you so much, just spit it out. Why do you think we are all here?" he ranted afterwards.

Gaara… ranting at Naruto, scolding him… did Gaara just scold Naruto? Wait, he spoke so much Naruto almost got dizzy at his right hand man's out of character bitching. Gaara's emerald eyes were still cold like always, but he clearly showed his concern just now, didn't he? Naruto could only gape at him, totally surprised since Gaara had actually took the trouble to speak more than two… wait, three sentences at a time.

Storm would hit Konoha City soon. Naruto was sure of it.

Gaara seemed to get irritated at the way Naruto stared at him like a fish out of water, so he _jab_ Naruto on his side, making the blond yowl in pain at the rough treatment.

Naruto was still moaning pathetically nursing his (now) throbbing side as he looked up at the evil annoyed glare Gaara sent his way. It wouldn't be a good idea to antagonize him more than this. He did understand that he had worried the red head, so he opted to apologize and made _excuse_. "Sorry, Gaara…, but this matter is… _private_ ," Naruto grumbled, pouting slightly before going back to silence.

Gaara visibly sighed in resignation, seeming to realize fully that Naruto didn't intend to share his problem with him or with _anyone_ at all at that moment. The red head obviously received the clear message that Naruto wanted to be left alone.

"Whatever," Gaara rolled his eyes before turning around and going back to sit on his respective seat. He didn't seem to care much, but Naruto was aware of the red head's intense stare on him afterwards, so he knew that Gaara didn't let go of that problem completely.

Naruto sighed weakly. _I can't choose—_ he decided. If only Sasuke wasn't Mikoto's son….

Now, it suddenly occurred to Naruto when Sasuke's name fleeted through his mind. He couldn't help wondering about what Sasuke's choice was, regarding this matter.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Hmm…" Sasuke set his serious face. He was still measuring pros and cons of his decision, questioning if it would be the best choice.

_No matter how genius I am, I can't use my intelligence as a base to decide this matter since it involves more feelings than logic. Mother is very important to me. Her happiness is my happiness too, but why…? Why must it be with… with… NARUTO'S father?!—_ Sasuke couldn't help wondering if there was some short of higher being pulling pranks on his life. What a fate. Why did a man as wonderful as Arashi have a son as idiotic as Naruto? The world was a funny place.

_I really don't want to be Naruto's brother…_ —Sasuke sighed again, completely dejected at that extra. He didn't need that fucked up extra. If only Naruto weren't Arashi's son….

"Sasuke, your face looks bad." Shino suddenly commented dryly, making Sasuke blink before it clicked to him that the taller guy just _insulted_ his look.

"What?" Sasuke asked, turning to face the sunglasses wearing boy almost indignantly. He didn't know why Shino suddenly said something like that. He was usually quiet. What was wrong with him?

"I said, your face looks awful. You frown too much, making an expression as if the world would end soon. Do you feel sick?" Shino explained more clearly, his voice cool and monotonous like usual.

Sasuke couldn't read Shino at all. He didn't know if the executive committee just wanted to mock him or was actually worried about him.

"No, just be quiet, please. I'm thinking about something important at this moment," Sasuke said while looking away from Shino, a tad embarrassed and mad at himself for slipping his indifferent mask.

"Did something happen, Sasuke?" Neji seemed to be concerned as he asked carefully from his vice president's seat.

Sasuke was silent for a moment, contemplating his answer before deciding that there was no harm in telling a partial truth. "Well, yes, something big just happened to me… but it's none of your concern, so you don't have to mind me." He didn't want to add anything else as he was slowly drifting inside his inner world again, thinking.

Neji and Shino visibly stared at Sasuke rather outlandishly, before they turned towards each other, seeming to communicating with their eyes before shrugging and going back to their respective duties.

_That total moron… What he thinks about this, I wonder…._

Sasuke couldn't help but wonder about what Naruto was thinking as well regarding this matter. However, before Sasuke could speculate, Sasuke's cell phone rang unexpectedly. He almost jumped in a start at the sound before he quickly composed himself and started to fish around his pants pocket. He brought out his cell-phone before pushing the 'answer' button.

"Hello," Sasuke greeted slowly before widening his eyes in surprise upon hearing the voice at the end of the other line. "What do you want?" Now, his voice turned icy. He was silent for a moment before talking again. "Alright, now I'm free, I'll go there soon." Sasuke hang up and put his cell phone back in his pocket.

"Who is it, Sasuke?" Neji asked in alarm when he seemed to notice Sasuke's darkening aura radiating around him and filling the student council room.

"An eternal enemy…" Sasuke almost hissed while smirking, apparently freaking Neji out slightly.

Sometimes, Neji gave Sasuke a look that screamed how Sasuke was not different from Naruto, except maybe for his brain and grade. Well, Sasuke wouldn't blame him. He was usually calm, but even Sasuke was really fearsome when he was angry.

Sasuke stood up and walked out of the room.

"Sasuke, where are you going to?" Shino asked, seeming to prepare himself to follow Sasuke in case he was needed. Not that he was guarding Sasuke like a loyal dog, but Shino was an executive committee after all, and he was a straight, responsible kind of guy, so it was a given.

"To paradise, Shino, you don't have to follow me this time," Sasuke immediately responded to him warningly, narrowing his eyes at the taller teen with _'don't get in my way or I'll destroy you'_ look. Shino silently stared back at him for awhile before he sighed, giving Sasuke a half-hearted 'okay'.

Sasuke smirked while closing the door.

**#**

"Why do I get a feeling that he will get us into trouble as well?" Neji covered his forehead, having a telltale of headache coming.

Sometimes, Neji also wondered why Sasuke could be selected as a president of student council. He was clearly unstable in so many ways Neji didn't even know how or where to start.

Neji combed his smooth long hair back as he sighed in defeat before he started tidying the paperwork in front of him just so he could have something to do to occupy his mind because he absolutely didn't want to think about Sasuke and his bizarre charade.

"He has his own reason, that's why," Shino unexpectedly replied, hiding his lower face again in his collar.

"He's an alien. That's why no one understands him and his thinking," Neji stated in irritation, noticing the way Shino's face faulting when he heard his fume.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Naruto stood on the rooftop of the Center building, waiting patiently for a certain raven haired boy to come up. After five minutes or so (he wasn't exactly counting, okay?), Naruto heard a sound of the door to the rooftop being opened.

Sasuke came to see him.

"You're late, Sasuke," Naruto said lowly, gazing mockingly at Sasuke's hard serious onyx eyes.

"I'm not late. You're the one that's too early, moron," Sasuke scoffed with stoical arrogant expression on his face, annoying the hell out of Naruto.

"Why does seeing your face piss me off so much?" Naruto growled as his facial muscle twitched, feeling the blood rising up to his head, popping up some veins of rage.

"Don't steal my line, _dead-last_ ," Sasuke hissed coldly and sardonically in return.

"Stop calling me names, bastard!" Naruto had had enough of his arrogant personality.

"Heh, but the pet name suits you perfectly," Sasuke smirked, infuriating Naruto even more.

"Asshole! I challenge you now! Let's fight!" Naruto yelled and pointed his at Sasuke's face.

"Don't talk too much, come here, _kitty_ ," Sasuke took off his white gakuran, revealing a plain white long buttoned up shirt on his body, and threw the uniform aside. Naruto also took off his own black gakuran and set it near his feet, ready to start the fight.

And then… the fight began….

"You fucking ass! I don't want to be your brother! You're arrogant and selfish! A stoical bastard and a narcissist to boot!" Naruto punched Sasuke in the face, and Sasuke didn't dodge it.

"I don't want to hear that from a dead-last like you, fucked up blond! Who wants to be a brother of a stupid dumb fool moron! Worse, an outcast such as you?!" Sasuke punched Naruto as well, but on the stomach.

"Shut the hell up! It's not my fault if I am stupid! I was born with that intelligence!" Naruto kicked Sasuke's side.

"And don't insult me, you-total moron! It's not my fault too if I was born with this face and brain!" Sasuke caught Naruto's ankle before shoving it hard and kicking Naruto back violently.

"You bastard—!" Naruto continued attacking Sasuke. "But I want _Dad_ to be happy!"

"You're not the only one, idiot! I also want _Mother_ to be happy!" Sasuke performed his defense and countered attacking Naruto.

So…they fought each other like that for almost two hours while they were exchanging their thoughts with countless words between the punches and the kicks of course.

"Just give up and get down, asshole!" Naruto yelled angrily, his face flushing unbearably because he just felt so helpless regarding this situation.

"Not before you, total moron!" Sasuke shouted back, looking as disheveled as Naruto.

Their breaths turned into heavy pants. Their body ached by the unrestrained blows from each other. Apparently, they almost reached the limit of their stamina. It was even difficult to stay standing straight. One more attack came and they would not be able to stand anymore.

Naruto began his last attack, but Sasuke had prepared his attack too. He used his Judo technique to pin Naruto down, but Naruto had his releasing technique in action too and ended up pinning Sasuke down on the ground of the rooftop. They locked each other movement completely. Three seconds later, both of them surrendered at the same time while wheezing.

"Crap…! Why the hell are you so strong, Sasuke?!" Naruto admitted, albeit with a protest, still breathing hard, but a second later he couldn't help the foxy grin slightly blooming on his face because, _damn_! This was fun. His body hurt and ached all over, but he could care less at that moment, because he felt so… alive.

"Yeah, well… you're not bad yourself. That's a little bit shocking," Sasuke unexpectedly complimented Naruto, still wheezing himself, and Naruto could almost _hear_ a satisfied smirk from his tone.

"Ha, hahaha! As I thought… fighting with you _always_ helps me release my stress like, _a lot_ ," Naruto laughed slightly, covering his eyes with one arm as the sunlight was too bright for him.

"I wonder why I feel the same way…" Sasuke's voice was slightly muffled. Apparently he covered his face with both hands now, seeming to hide his expression.

Naruto put his arm down before he slowly got up to sit, glancing slightly at the still laying down Sasuke. The raven was closing his eyes, his arms were spread at his sides and he looked rather… angelic, somehow despite covered in bruises, courtesy of Naruto's fist.

Naruto quickly shook his head when he realized what he was thinking. Sasuke, angelic? He must have been out of his mind for that word even crossing his head.

"So…what is your choice for our parents' marriage? Have you decided it?" Naruto decided to bring up the real matter after a few minutes of comfortable silence that befell between them.

"What about you?" Sasuke asked back, not yet opening his eyes or moving a muscle from his relaxed position.

They were back in that comfortable silence for almost five minutes before they concluded their choices. Sasuke started to sit up then, slowly fluttering his obsidian eyes open to look at Naruto's sky blue ones.

"For the sake of our parents…" Sasuke whispered tentatively.

"Even if I reaaally don't want to be your brother…" Naruto followed reluctantly.

" _Let's make them happy by agreeing their decision."_

Naruto and Sasuke blinked at each other in surprise when those words slid out of their mouths together before they smirked in agreement and gave each other a fist-bump.

Well, there was always a first time for everything, and Naruto was pretty surprised at the new sensation that he felt from the very first fist-bump he shared with his supposedly arch-enemy, and judging from the widened dark eyes, the raven apparently felt something similar.

They didn't know why, but suddenly the temperature around them seemed to increase and they averted their eyes from each other, as if they were trying their best not to blush in front of their rival…?

_Huh? Since when have we become rivals?!_ —Naruto (and maybe Sasuke too) screeched inwardly, feeling something tingling inside their core, and yet not knowing what it was.

So, this was what happened afterwards. Through much bickering and fighting, Sasuke and Naruto decided to make their parents happy by trading off their pride and their quiet life to get away from each other, with Arashi and Mikoto's marriage. From now on they would live under the same roof for a long time.

Of course they wondered what kind of mess would occur in their new lives….

**End of Chapter 1**

**Tbc…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, everyone, Lunaryu here! Alright, so this is the revised version of chapter 1. Personally, I think It's totally a LOT better than the previous version. Well, still can't bring the yaoi so early. First from enemy to rival, then maybe brother and then… *smirk* Maa, for now I think it's fine like this, but I will definitely bring them in romantic situation. Oh, and sorry for the long wait, by the way. I lost this chapter quite a few times because my drive where I stored it got removed, so yeah…. Anyway, feedback is still highly encouraged. See you in next chapter!


	3. Chapter 2: Live Together!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so... the bizarre life of new family for Naruto and Sasuke starts under the same roof...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another revised chapter. Please enjoy! ^_^  
>  **Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine**  
>  **Warning:** _foul language (and I mean lots of them), violence (bit), hints of SasuNaru shounen ai, possibly oOC in this chapter._

  
**Chapter 2:** _**Live Together!** _   


* * *

Then…here they were, Sasuke and Naruto (now Uzumaki family) in front of a new house, moving their things from the moving-car to the western styled house which would become their new home.

"Move your ass, Dobe! Don't get in my way!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto whom he accidentally bumped when he was moving the carton box, which was surprisingly heavy by the way, from the car to the house, already feeling annoyed by the slightly hot weather and the exertion.

"What did you say, bastard?! You're the one who obstruct my path!" Naruto shouted back at him as loudly, looking aggravated as well since he was also in the middle of moving his share of carton box.

Current of electricity was exchanged as they glared fiercely at each other _again_.

"Really, boys…fighting again? We still have a _lot_ of works to do here," Arashi sighed, looking resigned, as Sasuke and Naruto started to bicker again.

No matter that Arashi had become Sasuke's new father or Naruto his step brother, the younger blond still irritated Sasuke as hell. He couldn't help wondering how Arashi put up with him (and his absurdity) all the time.

"Dad, why must we move actually?" Naruto asked (or more like _whined_ ) to his father now.

"Well, we have mother and Sasuke now, it's normal to want a bigger house to live in, right? Or do you want to live in the twenty _tatamis_ (1) wide room with four people inside?" Arashi sounded like a kindergarten teacher trying to explain to (or actually convince) a stubborn misbehavior child.

Well, no wonder. Naruto wasn't _that bright_ after all. Sasuke snorted lightly, while trying not to be so obvious about it, _lest_ Naruto would take it as an offensive gesture. Not that Sasuke cared. He was just not in the mood to deal with Naruto's stupidity at that moment.

Naruto visibly shuddered, face paling slightly as he seemed to realize the circumstance if they, the four of them, had to live in his old narrow _apartment_ room together.

Yeah, that would be awful. Sasuke didn't even want to think if he had to share a bed room with Naruto. _Ugh._

"Moron," Sasuke couldn't hold mumbling that remark as he glanced down at Naruto patronizingly, and huffed before putting the box inside the house. Then he repeated the process with other boxes.

"I can hear you, asshole!" Naruto gave Sasuke a finger for insulting him, absolutely looking and sounding extra furious. Though, he actually let that go because then Naruto helped Sasuke move the rest of the boxes. Ah, the curse and insult to Sasuke's behalf stayed, though. Sasuke absolutely didn't want to lose in the verbal-abusing match, so he responded to Naruto's swearing with fouler language.

" _Maa_ , those two kids are really close aren't they? How cute~!" Mikoto giggled when she saw them _converse_ so energetically.

"Wha—?!" Sasuke snapped at their mother's commentary, while Naruto didn't seem to notice. "The hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Did Sasuke's mother just say they were _cute_ , fighting and arguing like that? Well, that must have been the case what with the way her beautiful jet-black eyes shone so expectantly. Although, once again Sasuke couldn't help wondering in what universe Sasuke and Naruto would get close. Even now they were trying _very_ hard not to throttle each other as it was! The name-calling was the ( _far way)_ toned down version of their usual brawl. It was bordering into miracle because they hadn't been trying to kill each other yet since their parents' remarriage.

Mikoto chuckled again and now Arashi was cackling as well, apparently agreeing with his wife.

_They are completely clueless… our parents…—_ Sasuke could only heave a long suffering sigh at that.

**#**

A half and an hour later, all of the boxes and furniture had been inside the house. Naruto laid down on the white ceramic floor to rest while sighing in relief. Sasuke sat down at a respective distance and drank the juice his mother had made while Arashi thanked the driver and didn't forget to pay the guy (with generous amount of tip, as usual) before the moving car left.

Arashi walked back in the house completely looking pleased. "Ok, then…let's tidy our new house!" He clapped his hands, his voice firm and very energetic.

Naruto instantly groaned in protest. "Eeeh? We have to tidy it ourselves, like…now?" He was already damned tired. His limbs were stiff and heavy and he absolutely refused to move from his cool comfortable spot on the floor.

"Don't whine like that, Naruto! It's our house, so we have to tidy it ourselves!" Arashi chided, almost like pouting, actually. Naruto couldn't help chuckled. His dad could be endearing too, sometimes.

"Leave him alone, father. He's a lazy ass anyway," Sasuke scoffed at Naruto throwing his arrogant smirk _again_ before he stood, successfully making Naruto's blood boil all over.

_Sheesh, everything that comes from his mouth completely pisses me off!_

"What did you say, bastard?!" Naruto rose up abruptly before he grabbed Sasuke's collar harshly. He really wanted to hit him.

"Yes, yes, drink this, Naru-chan!" Mikoto unexpectedly showed up between Naruto and Sasuke before Naruto could throw the first punch, with her joyful smile and singing-like voice, offering Naruto a glass of fresh melon juice right on his face.

Naruto cringed at the ' _-chan_ ' suffix that tailed his name. "M-mom?! Please don't call me _like_ _that_!" Naruto released Sasuke's collar at once in favor of complaining at his new mom, flabbergasted and rather nervous.

Seriously, calling Naruto, a gang-leader, with _'chan'_ … How preposterous! Naruto's underlings would laugh their ass off (except maybe Gaara, but he would laugh inwardly at the least) if they ever caught the scene. He still took the offered juice, however, since wasting people's kindness was… _well_ , a waste.

"Eh, but why? Naruto is cute, so Naru-chan suits you perfectly," Mikoto reasoned, beaming openly.

A bead of sweat broke out of Naruto's cheek seeing the unbeatable force of Mikoto's absolutely 'free-ill-intent' smile. Moreover, his face heated slightly hearing that compliment (even though he shouldn't be happy being called cute of all things. He was a _guy_ damn it!). He couldn't say anything back to retort because resisting Mikoto's innocent and cheery personality was nearly impossible.

Sasuke looked very amused when Naruto caught his mirthful gaze. The bastard was laughing at him, damn it!

Naruto glared at Sasuke, who _now_ was snickering at him for real, utterly annoyed. "What's so damned funny, Sasuke- _chan_?"

Naruto wouldn't let himself suffer the atrocious suffix alone. If he had to fall down, might as well bring Sasuke down with him!

As expected, Sasuke immediately reacted very _badly_ at that name-calling. "Don't call me ' _chan_ '!"

_Ooh, his face is red. How interesting_ —Naruto couldn't help grinning in triumph. Sasuke looked absolutely superb with flushing face, shamed and humiliated.

"What? But the girly face such as yours suits the ' _chan_ ' more than mine~," Naruto smirked evilly now, knowing that his provocation worked flawlessly, once again, in railing Sasuke even more.

"What did you say, you stupid-block head?!" Sasuke raised his voice again heatedly, blushing in embarrassment or was that anger? Naruto didn't care. The more worked up Sasuke was, the more interesting he became.

"I'm not stupid, you narcissist!" Naruto fought back, not intending to lose.

"Oh, shut your trap, you-dead last!" Sasuke's voice was getting louder by the second, sounding more livid. Naruto could virtually see the ice-prick's patience almost snap.

So, the shouting match resumed because neither Naruto nor Sasuke wanted to give up. Mikoto and Arashi could only stare at them in dumbfounded expression, face faulting as beads of sweat rolling down their cheeks.

"Ah, well… more fighting, more caring, more loving," Arashi said afterwards in his carefree laugh while lifting his shoulders, shrugging.

"Absolutely," Mikoto nodded eagerly, giggling again naively.

"Wait a damn second! What's that supposed to mean?!"

Now, though, it wasn't just Sasuke, but Naruto as well protested at their parents' comments, obviously not perceiving their ridiculous observational analysis of their state of affairs.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Damn that Sasuke bastard!" Naruto was still cursing Sasuke when he entered his chosen room with his arms full with his belongings. Short time later, he put the boxes down slowly before he started looking around his new room.

_Heeh, it's quite a nice room. It's painted in orange color, my favorite. As expected from Dad for preparing this room for me!_ —Naruto grinned quite happily looking at the interior design of his room.

It was shaped perfect square and painted bright orange. There were two windows at the right side of the wooden bed (also in orange color, but darker) which was placed in the middle of the room. There was a desk to study at the left side of the bed and a closet in front of the bed.

Naruto felt pleased with the room. However then, he was still annoyed with the fact that now he was living with Sasuke in the same house, under the same roof. Even if he had decided that he chose his parents happiness more than his pride, it didn't change the fact that he still disliked the raven haired teen.

_Funny how I considered him as my rival at the rooftop weeks ago…._ —Naruto mulled over about that deeply, when he sat on his fluffy, cream colored mattress.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

On the other hand, Sasuke was not really pleased with his room.

According to Sasuke's earlier quick assessment of Naruto's room (which was located right opposite his own at the second floor by the way), the interior design of his room was pretty much like Naruto's. It was neat and nice, but in Sasuke's opinion, the space was too narrow. Besides, he couldn't find the spot to place his processor set. Well, he at least liked the color of the paint. It was light blue, like the sky without clouds. Honestly, it was his favorite color.

_Father definitely cares if he goes so far to order the color to suit my taste…_ —Sasuke felt warm on the inside. As he had expected, Arashi was a wonderful person. He already felt like he would be attached to the guy as his new father.

_Though, a bigger room would be nice…_

Sasuke couldn't help thinking, but then he wasn't a type of person who wasted his time complaining about things when it didn't go his way. If he wasn't fond of the space, he just had to turn it around a little to suit his need.

So, Sasuke quickly unpacked his belongings. He changed the studying desk into computer desk and placed his computer set there. Then he kept his precious books on the instant bookshelves he had bought before moving and placed them near his computer desk. CDs and DVDs went to the right shelves above the desk and writing tools was neatly placed on the left-over space near his monitor. He put his clothes next in the wardrobe in front of his navy-blue-wooden bed. Lastly, he opened the windows to let the wind breeze into his room.

An hour later, Sasuke had finished unpacking his entire belongings and tidying his own room. He looked around to check everything, and then huffed, feeling satisfied with his handy work.

_Yosh. It's good like this…._ —He nodded in approval. Well, before he heard the noisy sound from the room across his own, at least. _That Naruto—_ he couldn't help grumbled in annoyance when he remembered that the blond was there as well, in the same _living space_ as him.

_Shit. Why the hell must I live in the same house as that stupid dead-last anyway?_

How irksome. Sasuke had to sit down on his bed to calm his sudden rising temper. He tried not to think about the subject of his annoyance, but failed miserably as his thought flew away to weeks before.

_I actually regarded him as my rival when we were on the roof top that time… I must have lost my mind…!_ —He grunted in a deep scowl at the thought.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Sasuke, Naru-chan, the dinner is ready!" Mikoto's voice was heard from the kitchen downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Naruto responded to his mother's call. He got up from his bed and walked out his room, and of course, being in the same house, he ran into Sasuke before he could step on the stairs.

They stopped walking and narrowed their eyes at each other, silently fighting over deciding who would get down first.

"Move. I get down first," Naruto stated confidently.

"Like I would, you move," Sasuke retorted arrogantly.

"What did you say, bastard!?" Naruto couldn't help glaring in annoyance because Sasuke was purposely being difficult just to spite him.

"A dead last such as you don't have right to go first," Sasuke replied back, looking and sounding conceited as hell.

"You indeed are a dick!" Naruto raised his fist and made a motion to punch Sasuke, but the raven was ready for the upcoming attack and successfully dodged it. However, because of Sasuke's unexpected motion, Naruto lost his balance on the stairs.

_Oh, shit!_

Following his survival instinct, Naruto grabbed the nearest object from him to stable his grounding. Still, unfortunately (or fortunately actually) the nearest thing beside him was Sasuke. Therefore, he grasped his front clothes so suddenly, shocked him, and caused Sasuke to lose his equilibrium as well in the process. In result, they fell, tumbling down the stair-steps _together_.

**#**

"WHOAAAAAAAAA!"

_**WHAM! BAM! BANG! CRASH!** _

Arashi and Mikoto in kitchen were really surprised hearing those raucous sounds and they thought the house shook for a second.

"What was that? An earthquake?" Mikoto asked concernedly.

"No, it's probably them. I heard their shouts," Arashi said, sweat dropping.

"Sasuke, Naru-chan! What happened?" Mikoto hurriedly ran out from the kitchen to see if her children were alright.

**#**

"Ouch—!" Naruto whined agonizingly. His face contorted like he was in very much pain, and he had to shut his eyes because of that.

"Ow, ow, ow—! That's my line, you-MORON! Get off of me, _Dobe_!" Sasuke winced too, shouting in aggravation because they were suddenly in a very compromising position.

Well, the truth is: Naruto actually fell on top of Sasuke's supine state. That's why Sasuke's entire back (and the back of his head, mind you) were killing him, slowly and excruciatingly. His chest and stomach felt like being crushed with Naruto's weight entirely on him.

_Damn the idiot! What the hell did he eat to get so freaking heavy, for God's sake!?_

"W-what?! This is entirely your fault!" Naruto yelled back, sounding utterly infuriated (and still totally hurting) as he tried to get up. But somehow, they seemed to be stuck in that point.

Slowly though, Sasuke could see from his blurring vision (head trauma, darn it!) that Naruto lifted his head and then opened his eyes only to realize that his face and Sasuke's were (very) near each other.

Oh, wait. That was thoroughly an understatement. Their faces were not only near each other, but also too fucking close! So close such that Sasuke even could feel Naruto's warm puffed breath, something plump, soft and balmy moving on his lips.

Yeah, apparently, their lips were… touching _(a bit)_.

_Eh…?_

Sasuke widened his eyes now, and his sight was immediately filled with a pair of deep, clear cerulean eyes staring in shock into his own perplexed onyx orbs. For a minute or two, they were frozen on the spot, absolutely unable to move, and they couldn't even register what was happening until their mother found them, in that totally misleading position of course, what with Naruto's palms on Sasuke's chest and one of his knees between Sasuke's legs.

"Oh my, Sasuke, Naru-chan, you are progressing too fast, don't you think?"

Mikoto's amused voice snapped Sasuke and Naruto's back from their trance and—

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Yep. Unison of bloody murder scream full of horror and mortification ensued. Sasuke and Naruto frantically tried to immediately part, or more likely, it was Naruto who jumped and desperately backed away from Sasuke.

"You—, you perverted bastard!" Naruto screamed, covering his mouth with one hand while pointing at Sasuke with the other, body shaking and his face in mix of horrification, anger and embarrassment.

"The fuck—?! You were the one who yanked me down, damn it!" Sasuke shrieked back at him, hellishly flushing himself. Oh no, he was blushing! He totally was, wasn't he?! His face felt like a fucking furnace! CRAP! Uchiha Sasuke did not blush, damn it!

"What!? Fuck you, Sasuke! You're really a douche bag, you—Degenerate asshole!" Naruto cried out his last line before he promptly got up to run away from that embarrassing condition.

Yes, Naruto literally ran away from Sasuke and their mother to the kitchen while his face was still burning red. It was so thwarting. Sasuke himself was so embarrassed that he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him right there and then.

"My, my, what happened? Did I say something wrong?" Mikoto asked in bewilderment, apparently having no clue at all about the situation.

On top of being absolutely ashamed, Sasuke felt like face faulting at his mother's clueless look and question.

_Isn't it obvious that she just said something so embarrassing about our state?_ —Sasuke thought in incredulity. He had to cover his still heating face with his hands and sighed deeply in acquiescence.

_Shit…! To think that my first kiss is with that Dobe… Oh, fuck! It seems that God really hates me today…._

**#**

Meanwhile, Naruto was…

_Damn it! Damn it, that ice-prick Sasuke! He stole my first kiss!_

Yup, still running away, and he didn't even watch where he was going until he ran into (and over) his dad that tried to stop him before he hurt himself, running while shutting his eyes like that.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruro~**

* * *

Several minutes (hours?) later…

Uzumaki residence's kitchen was like a grave yard with everyone dead silent (save for the sound of munching or clinking of chopsticks and bowls). Arashi, Mikoto, Sasuke and Naruto sat together surrounding the round dining table, eating their dinner slowly and mechanically. Somehow, the mood felt extra-ordinarily heavy and ominous.

Arashi didn't exactly know what happened before, and _really_ , he didn't want to know, since he could already guess that his children were fighting again. However, this time was a bit different from usual. The hostility between the two kids reached the maximum level. It was downright frightening.

_The usually loud mouthed Naruto isn't speaking. Something very BIG must have happened…_ —Arashi gulped slightly, sweating profoundly. He slowly glanced at Naruto who was eating in total discomfort. So was Sasuke who looked very stiff like a robot. By some means, Mikoto who knew what exactly happened only smiled ruefully, leaving Arashi to ponder curiously at their suspicious behavior.

_Aaarrgh, it's exasperating!_ —Arashi started to feel bothered. He couldn't stand this dark, gloomy atmosphere anymore.

"H-hey boys, why are _we_ so quiet today? That's not nice. Foods will taste more delicious with the usual chatter, right? Oh yeah, why don't we share our opinion on our new house? Doesn't it sound interesting?" Arashi decided to break the silence by suggesting fun activities. Well, he was their father. Of course he wanted to lighten the atmosphere with his warm fatherly smile.

Sasuke and Naruto put their bowl and chopsticks down before they glanced at their father, looking somewhat hesitant.

_They actually resemble each other. Look at that concordant movement. They're practically channeling each other's thought to move at the same time! With the same gesture, even!_ —Arashi couldn't help thinking wittily.

"I'm… not in the mood for a small chit-chat, especially when a certain maddening fellow is here," Sasuke was the first to answer, slowly, implying the 'maddening fellow' at someone whom Arashi guessed was Naruto, judging from the raven's sour look as he peered at the blond.

"Yeah, just looking at his face darkens my mood," Naruto responded to the silent affront with twitching eyebrows, seeming ready to raise his voice (and probably fist too) any moment, now.

Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other again in resentment. Arashi couldn't help himself from sighing in defeat.

"Aah, why can't my precious boys get along?" Arashi was genuinely disheartened. He longed for harmony in his new family, not enmity. Somehow, Sasuke and Naruto visibly flinched at his low lamenting.

"Yeah, we thought you were close to each other. Are we wrong?" Mikoto looked rather nervous as she spoke, seemingly worried if they made a mistake in marrying each other. Sasuke and Naruto actually jolted up in reaction.

"No! It's not like we don't want to get along together!" Naruto looked desperate.

"Ye-yeah, it's just him annoying me all the time," Sasuke added.

"What did you say, bastard?!" Naruto snapped angrily again at the unnecessary addition.

"I said you're annoying!" Sasuke repeated his words, and it obviously provoked Naruto's rage even more.

"Shut the fuck up, asshole! It's totally your fault that we fell down from the stairs! You even ki—…!" Naruto choked at his next word, apparently unable to pronounce it _at all_ since his face unexpectedly turned crimson, looking very embarrassed, somehow.

Arashi couldn't help wondering. _What in the world happened before that Naruto even reacted like that?_

Somehow, Sasuke seemed to know what Naruto was about to say and immediately retaliated before he embarrassed Sasuke as well. "You were the one who pulled me and fell on top of me!"

_Well, that explains it. What, they are just embarrassed for being in uncomfortable position?_

"That's because you dodged my punch!" Naruto shouted further. He even stood to emphasize his antagonism.

"That's your main reason, you idiot! Why did you try to punch me in the first place!?" Sasuke yelled back again while following Naruto's gesture.

"That's because you insulted me!" Now, Naruto screamed in frustration.

"I didn't insult you! I just say the truth!" Sasuke argued, but it didn't make it any better.

"Aaaaargh! Damn it, Sasuke, you bastard!" Naruto seemed unable to take it anymore as he grabbed Sasuke's collar and tried to hit him in the face. Though, Arashi was ready for this particular situation with the increasing volume of their shouts, so he grabbed Naruto's back collar and stopped him.

" _Okay,_ alright, that's enough boys." As the father (the leader and the mediator) of this family, Arashi had to be the calm and reasonable one. So he smiled a _sickeningly sweet_ smile that caused Naruto and Sasuke who accidentally caught his (actually very much) irate gaze, to cringe visibly. "Let's talk about this civilly, shall we? In _seiza_ (2), NOW."

Naruto and Sasuke noticeably shuddered (violently, Arashi might add) as he threw them a freezing cold glare (even for Arashi's standard). But that was good. Once in awhile, those kids needed to get scolded, being _teenager_ and all.

**#**

_Crap!—_ word was promptly flashing in Naruto and (probably as well in) Sasuke's minds at that moment. _I forgot that Dad could be a real killer when he's angry…!_

Naruto was self-reflecting when he and Sasuke were forced to sit formally on the living room floor. Arashi looked extremely disappointed when he looked down on them from the sofa. They were already in that position for almost fifteen minutes now and their father hadn't said a thing since he made them sit like that.

Not that Naruto was complaining even though his feet were falling asleep. He couldn't even if he wanted to. Arashi rarely got angry, but once he did, it could get ugly, especially if Naruto retaliated.

"So… you know why you're in _seiza_ , don't you?" Arashi was smiling. He looked fine and gentle and totally kind, but there was dark aura swirling around him that cause Naruto (and Sasuke, visibly) to pale.

_Scary! Why is he so damn terrifying even though he's smiling?!_ —Naruto was sweating bullets now, feeling very anxious and worried for his (and maybe Sasuke's too) life a little.

Sasuke was silent the entire time, but Naruto could see in his peripheral vision that Sasuke was apprehensive too. He caught Sasuke's disturbed glance and his face seemed asking if they would get out alive from this scolding. Naruto totally understood why he would look like that, though. He felt the same after all.

"Naruto."

Naruto flinched when he was addressed by his father and straightened his back while yelping "Yes!"

"Jeez, you really have to learn more self control. Oh, and proper language. Seriously, hearing your brazen foul swearing all the time hurt my ears. And Sasuke."

Now it was Sasuke who jerked up to pay attention more to their father.

"I expected you to be more composed and level-headed than this. And politer too. There's no need to expose someone's weakness in front of anyone else, is there? Moreover, in such vulgar manner."

Arashi was still smiling as he spouted the sermon, but Naruto knew he was actually pretty displeased behind his calmness. He was angry because Naruto and Sasuke's manner disappointed him. Moreover, they disturbed family dinner by fighting in front of Arashi and Mikoto, the _sacred_ Uzumaki family dinner. No wonder Arashi was pissed off. He just hoped that they would still in one piece after this session ended. Naruto (and Sasuke) just didn't want their father to get even angrier than this. He was scary as it was, what would happened to them if he got more furious?

With that mind-setting, Naruto and Sasuke communicated with their eyes and came into a silent agreement to just shut their mouth and do what their father wanted them to do.

"Ye-yes…" the boys responded to their father nervously, corn sized of sweats dripping from the back of their head.

"Alright! It's good if you guys understand," Arashi grinned widely now, all dark aura dispersing, and he looked pretty pleased with the outcome of this situation.

"Well, everyone, let's go back to eat our dinner!" Mikoto closed the scolding session with a clap of her hands and cheery tone again. Arashi smiled softly at her before he stood and urged the boys to stand and follow them back to the kitchen.

Naruto's legs were cramp. It was hard to stand, let alone walk while shaking. He didn't expect it when Sasuke suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him up to stand.

"W-wha—?"

"Let's go." Sasuke didn't look at him, but didn't release his hand from Naruto's arm as they walked together and entered the kitchen.

Naruto was rather dumbfounded as the four of them were completely seated once again at the table. Arashi was sitting beside Mikoto while they were talking to each other with happy looking faces. And suddenly, the room was filled with the romantic aura from the newlyweds.

_Uwaaah… PDA overflow…._ —Naruto flushed uncomfortably when he saw his father and his new mother being so intimate with each other. Honestly, it was very embarrassing, but somehow… it made him happy too seeing his parents' content smile.

Naruto felt like softening his expression and smiling gently afterwards.

**#**

_How embarrassing… our parents are—_ Sasuke sighed, feeling like covering his sight so he didn't have to see them directly. _But… man, they looked so damned happy together_ —he couldn't help smiling seeing his parents happiness, shaking his head slightly.

However, Sasuke caught a glimpse of something which bothered him so much suddenly. He glanced over at Naruto who was smiling softly.

_**Ba-thump**_!

Sasuke's heart beat loudly just now. He was distracted by that face Naruto made. Somehow, he felt that Naruto's smile was beautiful.

_Blue deep-clear ocean-sky eyes with feminine feature…and those whiskers…. He looks so cute when he smiles…._

Wait, did he think that Naruto was cute just now? Sasuke turned pink and kicked his head mentally immediately for thinking something like that.

_Am I an idiot?! There's no way in hell that Naruto is cute! That's so bizarre! What the hell am I—?!_

Sasuke shook his head to clear his mind. Somehow, he was affronted for thinking like that. He quickly turned his face away from Naruto to prevent the blush creeping further on his face. He tried to hide his self-conscious state by continuing his task: eating his meal silently.

Though, apparently Naruto noticed Sasuke's strange motion as he turned to face him. _Crap._

Naruto visibly grin in amusement. That dead-last was laughing at Sasuke! How dare he! But then, the blond somehow realized what he did, snapped and slammed his cheeks with his hands, literally. It made a very loud smacking sound, surprising the others including Sasuke, causing them to look at Naruto oddly.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Arashi asked, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

"A mo-mosquito bit me," Naruto answered immediately, stuttering a bit. However, behind his palms, his face was red in embarrassment.

_W-why is he blushing now? Wait, why are we blushing exactly?—_ Sasuke really didn't understand what was going on.

**#**

So, basically, it seemed that both Naruto and Sasuke thought similarly. They shared almost the same thought. It made them understand each other so well, but it also annoyed them to hell.

You had ever heard the saying "You will hate a person who resembles you," right? It was the same case as Sasuke and Naruto. However, the two of them hadn't realized that yet.

That night in their room, they thought about the source of their distraction. Sasuke thought about Naruto and vice versa.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"That idiot Naruto… Does he realize that we will live together from now on till the end?" Sasuke mumbled slowly as he was hugging his navy blue smiley pillow.

_Moreover earlier…I didn't quite catch it because I was shocked and confused as well, but…when he was on top of me and stared deeply into my eyes…somehow…._

Sasuke blushed again. He shook his head immediately.

_Damn it…! Why does he bother me so much…!? He's just a stupid moronic dead-last, and I can't even forget the feeling of his lips on mine! Why must he have such plump, kissable lips!?_

The more Sasuke thought about that, the more his frustration increased.

"Aaaargh! It's enough! Forget that! I want to sleep!" Sasuke shouted loudly, not bothering to think that maybe Naruto or his parents would hear him. He pulled the blanket over his head and hid his face under it, still feeling warm and bothered uncomfortably.

_When I wake up tomorrow, I swear I'll FORGET! This confusing feeling… is better forgotten for good!_

**#**

In his room, Naruto was—

"Damn that Sasuke bastard! Does he even realize that we will face each other every day and night from now on till the end? And he keeps irritating me like hell!" Naruto cursed in undertone as he punched his pillow to release his stress. Satisfied with it, he laid himself down to hug his orange smiley pillow.

_Shit…! Back then I didn't realize because of the pain on my face and the confusion. But thinking about it now…, darn it! I can still feel his body heat! Damn him for having that warm body! Damn him for having those enticing dark eyes! And damn him for the sake of God who creates those warm soft lips of his!_

Naruto blushed furiously, hiding his face under the smiley pillow. He was really embarrassed thinking about Sasuke that way, but he had to admit that because he felt it clearly, and it freaked him so much because honestly, he did not really hate the feeling.

_Oh God…please just kill me now or at least let me forget what happened today when I wake up tomorrow…!_

**#**

However then, actually both Sasuke and Naruto seemed aware that they would never forget what happened today, because they had to realize it someday that their presence completed each other. By the way, they even hadn't realized what the main cause of their hatred towards each other in the first place was.

Bet they would be stressed even more when they thought about that in the next chapter….

**End of Chapter 2**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**Side notes:**

**(1)** _ **Tatami**_ **:** traditional Japanese carpet which was often used to measure the width of houses or rooms

**(2)** _ **Seiza**_ **:** the most formal sitting position for Japanese. You sit on your bent legs with straightened back. It can cause the legs to cramp if you don't get used to that position.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yah, minna. I know, I took my time in updating per chapter. But, surprisingly, editing is quite more difficult than just writing. And I have other projects so… anyway, this is for the second chapter. Hope you like it. Feedback is always encouraged! Jaa, see you in next chapter!


	4. Chapter 3: The School After, Acknowledgment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hectic life of Sasuke and Naruto continues and complicates after they go back to school as step brothers now. Should this news remain as a secret? or should they tell their friends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warning:** _foul language, violence, hints SasuNaru shounen ai_

**Chapter 3: _The School After, Acknowledgment_**

* * *

 

“Uugh, my head huuurts…!” Naruto whined slightly when he walked _alone_ to school.

Oh no, of course he was not with Sasuke. Hell, he would never let the entire school know about the marriage between his father and Sasuke’s mother. Fuck no! What would they say if they knew that Naruto and Sasuke were brothers now? They were the bosses of East and West buildings for God sake! There was no way in hell would their followers accept such news with open arms!

This morning Mikoto had insisted them going to school together, and along the way to the bus stop they bickered nonstop _again_. Fortunately, there was none of their schoolmates (since they took the much earlier bus than usual), and when they took off at the bus stop near the school, they immediately parted ways with silent agreement to keep their secret just for them. They had talked about it last night and settled that it was best not to mention anything about their _current_ situation to anyone else _ever_.

However, Naruto didn’t know if he had to laugh, cry, or faint when his father told him this morning that he had notified his most favorite teacher, Umino Iruka, about Arashi and Mikoto’s marriage. Naruto was positively horrified though, and could only pray to God that Iruka would be sensible enough not to tell a single soul about that matter.

Naruto didn’t really want to imagine what would happen if the news got out. He would probably get murdered by Sasuke’s fanatic fans or worse, _his own followers_. Despite being their boss, if East Building students thought in the slightest that Naruto had fallen into Sasuke’s clutch (being step brothers and all, even though it would _never_ happen), they would make Naruto’s life a living hell. Naruto didn’t need that. Living with Sasuke in the same house was _torture_ enough. Thank you very much.

Naruto sighed deeply when he passed the school gate to the front yard of Konoha Academy. Many people ( _read: black uniformed schoolmates_ ), greeted him with respect while some ( _read: white uniformed ones_ ) immediately averted their gazes and moved away from him (or his path). Naruto greeted the blacks with his usual infamous rascal grin, not letting them read into his cloudy mood and pretty much ignored the whites after that.

It was just unfortunate (or fortunate?) that Sasuke showed up right after Naruto, successfully dragging everyone’s attention (including Naruto’s) to him when he stepped inside the school vicinity. The whites immediately welcomed him while the blacks sent a mixture look of wary and antipathy, but Sasuke seemed to ignore both uniforms as his eyes locked with Naruto’s instead.

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other rather intensely for awhile in total silence. The other students gulped slightly, probably thinking that both bosses would start a brawl first thing in the morning. However, since Naruto and Sasuke had agreed not to make any suspicious sign that could give their shared secret away, they just looked away from one and another before taking separate routes, right and left, not bothering to pass the center building to go to their respective buildings.

Alas, both Naruto and Sasuke didn’t see the surprise in their followers faces when they saw that _unexpected_ scene.

**#**

Sasuke was pissed. He was shocked and mortified when he learned that his mother had informed his _least_ favorite teacher ( _shit_ , Sasuke even felt mostly irritated with that teacher’s act in daily basis!), Hatake Kakashi, about their recent family condition before he went to sleep last night. 

Of course it caused Sasuke to have a headache. After all, Sasuke had to rake his brain all night long to look for something _nasty_ enough to blackmail Kakashi and shut the perverted silver haired man’s mouth about the secret. Obviously, because that guy loved gossiping very much. Sasuke definitely couldn’t stand the thought if his (mostly) _perverse_ teacher accidently (or on purpose, just to spite Sasuke) spread the _HUGE_ news to the entire school.

_Don’t laugh, damn it! It’s not funny!_ —Sasuke refused to be dragged down into Naruto’s level. Imagine what all his friends would think if they knew Sasuke was brothers with Naruto. His image as a perfect student would be instantly shattered for sharing a living space with that outcast. There was no way Sasuke could live with such injured pride.

It was the wisest to just ignore (and change the subject if ignoring was impossible) everyone for awhile if they asked about why both Sasuke and Naruto took the same day to leave school early or the same time off from school a few days prior their parents’ remarriage. He would definitely compel Kakashi to cooperate with him to make some kind of cover story no matter what, even if he had to resort to threats of bodily harm to get it.

_I have to prevent any damage while I can!_ —Sasuke swore silently and gravely, as he kept walking to his building without a single glance at anyone else after.

* * *

 

  
****~Sasuke x Naruto~** **

* * *

Naruto sighed in relief after entering in his comfort zone, passing the inside gate of East Building, where no one would poke their nose in his private business. But his relief didn’t last _that long_ when he saw some people, _girls_ precisely _,_ who weren’t supposed to be there, at East Building side garden, since they were wearing white gakuran.

_Why are those girls there?_ —Naruto thought oddly. He was curious of what they were doing, so he decided to check on them. He peeped slowly from the corner of the gate. There…he saw three girls smoking.

_Hmm… So, it’s not only Temari who likes smoking, huh?_

Naruto chuckled lightly, shaking his head, and he was almost letting them be. He didn’t give a shit to something as trivial as that. He didn’t care if they were East or West Building students, as long as they didn’t bother him and didn’t create a mess in his territory. He would not sniff on their problem. 

However, Naruto stopped walking away when he heard a voice, stuttering as _she_ spoke.

“E, um… everyone please… Please stop doing this. Smo-smoking is stri-strictly prohibited in-in our school ground…” The voice sounded small, hesitant, worried and somehow cute. 

Naruto turned back to look at the girls again. Now there were four of them. The newcomer was a petit girl in white gakuran, with smooth, straight long midnight colored hair. She had pale grayish colored eyes and said eyes seemed to look at her _friends_ with concern in them.

Naruto blinked. By some means, he felt that he had ever seen that girl. Those hair and eyes… and wow did she look sweet. She seemed shy, though, judging from her cautious voice and expression.

_Where have I seen her before?_ —Naruto couldn’t help feeling inquisitive, and was pretty distracted from the scene when suddenly he heard a pained yelp that Naruto recognized as the pale eyed girl’s. Naruto snapped back from his train of thought and saw the smoking party bullying the cute girl. _What the fuck?!_

Naruto felt the anger rising to his head as he saw the unfair one sided battle (no, actually it was not a battle at all, but it sure felt like it when the bad girls surrounded the nervous girl), and he didn’t even realize that he was taking action to protect the pale eyed girl from her _-not so friendly_ \- friends as he walked out from his hidden spot to greet them. 

“Heeh, I didn’t know that the girls from West Building like smoking here _too_ ,” Naruto said a bit noisily announcing his presence with a smirk on his face, surprising the party.

“Haah? What did you sa—?!” The tallest girl sneered in a very impolite way before she turned around only to meet Naruto’s sky blue eyes. She widened her own immediately and dropped her jaw almost litreally in a complete shock. So un-lady like! Her friends, excluding the pale eyed girl, set their horrified expression as well noticing Naruto there. 

“B-boss of East Building!”

Frankly, Naruto felt great when they screeched in unison and stared at him in horror. It meant he really did have an influence in how the _rules_ work. 

“You really have guts trying to create problem in my territory, even without _my_ permission. Such gutsy young ladies…” Naruto purposely widened his smirk, adding the evil tone and spreading dark aura while he was cracking his knuckles in total intimidation.

“We-we’re very sorryyyyyyy!” The three girls stumbled around from their spots and immediately scrammed away from him in tears, apparently very terrorized, leaving the cute girl alone with Naruto. 

“Bunch of useless women,” Naruto scoffed patronizingly before he turned around to face the remaining girl there. She was seated on the ground, luckily unhurt, and gawking at Naruto with a perplexed look. “Hey, you alright?” Naruto smiled slightly and gave her a hand to help her stand.

The girl yelped slightly, looking at Naruto’s eyes with part fear and part wonder. “Ye-yes…” The response was so faint and the volume so small, almost whispering. Still, Naruto could make out her adorable soprano voice. She tentatively took Naruto’s hand before standing slowly while dusting her uniform. 

“How odd… I can’t help thinking that I have ever seen you before… where is it again?” Then Naruto decided it was okay to invade the girls’ personal space, scrutinizing her face intently that immediately seemed to cause her to flinch and flush bright pink.

_Huh? What a reaction…_  

“Ah, m-maybe you s-saw my cousin, N-Neji- _niisama_ (1),” she said almost in panic, and apparently tried a step back to get away from Naruto while trembling like a chary kitten. How endearing.

“Ah!” Though, Naruto immediately caught her word and punched his palm, remembering it. “That’s right! You’re that pretty boy’s cousin! Hyuuga Hinata, was it? I’m Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto,” Naruto offered her a handshake, smiling friendlily now since he recalled who she was. 

“Eh?” For a second, Hinata looked surprised, still flushing, but then she gave him a small happy smile. “N-nice to meet you too, Na-Naruto-kun,” she beamed slightly and took Naruto’s hand. “H-how did you know m-my name?”

“Well, you’re in student council too, right? I’ve had enough dealing with Sasuke and his cronies in student council, particularly Neji since that pretty boy is hellishly annoying with his ground rules. Besides, he patronizes black uniforms more than Sasuke, and if I remember right, you stood up for _us_ once when he decided to exclude all black uniformed candidates to enter election for student council administrator’s position. Of course I know you,” Naruto said ruefully while thinking about the older guy.

_Right, that Neji… even if he is a senpai, he always tails Sasuke wherever he goes (well, it’s normal since he’s the vice-president, but still…). He’s not only a freak that treasures his hair like a gem, but also a religious fanatic that always talks about destiny and blah-blah-blah fate. I really can’t get what he is thinking. He’s totally odd. Maybe because he’s genius… he probably lost his mind when he thought too much._

“Oh,” Hinata’s blush intensified. “Y-you remembered… t-that’s so embarrassing…!” Now she covered her face. “Ah… b-but Neji- _niisama_ and I… we’re so different. Neji- _niisama_ is-is great with his words a-and many people respect him. He-he is good at sp-speech and his leadership is-is also outstanding. On-on the other hand, I… am too quiet and d-don’t have many friends. I also c-can’t speak smoothly. M-moreover, at that time I-I really humiliated myself in-in front of the entire s-school…” 

Hinata looked very ashamed and seemed about to cry so Naruto immediately seized her hand and looked at her in the eye. “That’s completely untrue. You stood for us, _blacks_ , despite wearing white uniform, for the fairness and the right mean. Nobody in our building laughed at you that day. Besides, you’re better than Neji, _a lot better_. Trust me.” He smiled reassuringly now.

Hinata widened her eyes in astonishment before she wiped her almost falling tears with her free hand and nodded, smiling. “T-thank you…” Then she seemed to see Naruto’s hand on her and she flushed again furiously. “A-ah, N-Naruto-kun too, is s-surprisingly… very kind… des-despite being… the boss of East Building…!” She seemed afraid when she commented, but she still said it anyway. Naruto instantly liked her honesty. 

“Eh, really? Ahaha. Honestly, I myself don’t understand why the whites hate me so much. Ah, but I do like fighting and pulling pranks, maybe because of that… since my targets are usually the whites…” Naruto mulled it over slightly, but then he shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I know _not_ exactly I’m a bad person, anyway… just slightly outlaw to make our school life more interesting!” Then he laughed optimistically at that positive thinking.

Hinata was apparently fascinated watching him for a few seconds before her face suddenly turned crimson for some reasons. 

“Huh?” Naruto instantly realized that there was something wrong with the girl. “What’s wrong, Hinata-chan?” He was concerned.

“H-Hinata…- _chan_ …?” She looked shocked, and for some reasons, her face flushing much darker, looking about to combust. 

_WHOA! Her face is steaming! What happened?!_ —Naruto was very confused seeing such strange reaction. The heat from Hinata’s face was radiating like a furnace.

“Hi-Hinata-chan? Are you okay? Do you have fever or something?” Naruto pulled the girl closer and leaned in to put his forehead on hers. Hinata without delay shrieked and fainted; her face still totally scarlet, to Naruto’s utter horror. 

“Hi-Hinata-chan!? Wa-wait a—! Why did you suddenly pass out?!” Naruto immediately caught Hinata’s body before it hit the ground.

_Oh my God…, what’s wrong with her!? Why did she faint!? Did I say something wrong or she indeed has caught a fever?!_ –Naruto unquestionably panicked. He quickly lifted Hinata in bridal style and carried her to infirmary, so Tsunade could check on her. 

**#**

However, when Naruto was in his way of bringing Hinata to the heath office in center building, Shino saw him.

_Naruto, the boss of East Building… Did he knock somebody out again?_ —Shino huffed. He had to note that on _Naruto’s breaking school rules_ record since Shino was the head of Executive Committee. But seriously, Naruto always _breaks_ school rules one way or another. _Every. Single. Day._ The paperwork was a total hassle. Maybe he would make Naruto fill out the form himself later under duress…

_Hmm? That’s…!?_ —Shino widened his eyes in surprise (even if no one actually could see that because of his sunglasses and his high collar) when he saw the victim’s figure on Naruto’s arm. _Isn’t that Hyuuga Hinata? Why is Neji’s cousin with Naru—, no. Why is Naruto carrying her like that? Is she unconscious? Is she hurt? But who would hurt…? Impossible, did_ Naruto _injure her?_ —Shino couldn’t believe this. He knew that Naruto was a trouble magnet and had a tendency to get violent, but he thought Naruto had a code or some short. 

“I should tell Sasuke and Neji first before taking action. Besides, Naruto is bringing her to infirmary. Maybe it’s just a huge misunderstanding.” Shino turned around before walking away to the student council office. Neji and Sasuke might have been there.

Furthermore, even though Naruto was taxing to deal with most of the time, Shino quite respected that East Building boss. They were from the same middle school after all, and Naruto wasn’t a _bad guy_ even though he was a delinquent and a gang leader. 

* * *

 

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

 

Later in infirmary— 

“Naruto…! What _in the_ _world_ did you do to a mere defenseless girl like her!?” Tsunade growled and deadly glared at Naruto, feeling her veins throbbing one by one on her entire head and face, as she saw the teenage blond entering her office with a girl, out cold and _steaming_ in his arms.

Tsunade stood and cracked her knuckles menacingly, ready to give Naruto a severe painful death if he indeed had done something to render a girl unconscious like that. 

“W-wait a second! It’s not what it looks like!” Naruto visibly paled and flailed frantically after he put the girl down on the bed.

“I thought you were different from the public trashes…! How dare you roughing up a girl like that…! Your father will surely cry hearing this!” Tsunade couldn’t listen to Naruto’s reasoning because she was so angry. So disappointed. Naruto had violated his own code! 

_How could he…!?—_ Tsunade grabbed Naruto’s collar and glared daggers directly at Naruto’s frightened eyes.

“Whoooaaaa! I said wait, wait, waaaai! It’s not like what you think, damn it! And whom are you calling a public’s trash!?” Naruto immediately shut his eyes and covered his head, apparently in instinct, to protect it lest Tsunade decided to hit him despite still protesting. 

“Spill. If your explanation matched what I thought, I would call your father to prepare your funeral!” Tsunade threatened him gravely and fiercely, though while giving him a chance to defend himself.

Naruto squeaked in shock before groaning in trepidation, totally unable to defy her since it was 100 years sooner for him to even think about it, unless he wanted to die so very young in Tsunade’s hand. 

So, Naruto (nervously) explained what actually happened. “…that’s why, I don’t know either why she fainted out of the blue. It’s not my fault, really. I was just trying to check if she had fever or not. When I touched her forehead with my own, she abruptly shrieked and passed out,” he huffed then, looking annoyed.

“Hmm… Don’t you think she fainted because you scared her too much?” Tsunade was still suspicious. 

“Eeeh? But she talked with me just fine before. Well, she was timid and stuttering, but she even confided her problem to me! If she had been really terrified, she would have escaped with her friends, that bullied her by the way, when she saw me,” Naruto complained.

“Well, I supposed so…” Tsunade sighed slightly in relief. “So… it means that you actually saved her, huh? That’s good, as I expected from you, brat!” Now she ruffled Naruto’s soft spiky blond hair while smiling, feeling pleased.

“Shees, stop treating me like a child, already!” Naruto pouted slightly then, face faulting while sending her a dirty look.

_Okay… she probably fainted because Naruto invaded her personal space so suddenly. On top of that, she ‘closed up’ on that cute face of his, huh? No wonder, Naruto and his father are indeed quite similar in that respect!_ —Tsunade grinned, slapping Naruto’s back repeatedly hard enough to make the blond cringe and wince. 

“Ouch! Ow! What was that for, you—!”

Suddenly the door of infirmary was opened, cutting Naruto’s speech. “Excuse me; can I have a band aid?” 

Naruto and Tsunade looked upward at the same time to see a man in his late twenties with dark brown hair and a kind looking face enter the health office. “Oh, Iruka?” Tsunade immediately recognized him as one of the teachers in Konoha Academy, mainly teaching Japanese Literature, as well as Naruto’s homeroom teacher, Umino Iruka.

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruto’s face instantly brightened tenfold. He immediately stood and greeted him with happy wide adorable smile. “Good morning, Sensei!” 

_As usual, Naruto loves this guy—_ Tsuna chuckled, seeing Naruto turning into such an angel when the brunet teacher was around.

“Ah, good morning, Naruto,” Iruka greeted Naruto back with a nice smile. “How is it with your new house and family?” he suddenly asked. Tsinade blinked as Naruto jerked and snapped in alert at the question. Bullets of sweat suddenly broke out from his entire face. 

“New house and family?” Tsunade frowned slightly, confused.

Naruto made an ‘ _Oh, crap!’_ like face and Iruka answered. 

“Yeah, Naruto’s father remar—”

“Aaaaaah! Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaah!” Naruto shouted in total alarm, effectively cutting Iruka’s words before he could give Tsunade any response. 

Tsunade raised her eyebrows, wondering what the hell Naruto’s problem was, while Iruka threw the blond a bemused look.

“Se-sensei! Here’s your band aid! Oh, the bell almost rings! It’s Japanese Lit for the first period, right?! Let’s go to the classroom now!” Naruto gave the band aid, which seemed to magically appear on his hand, to Iruka before the blond kid pushed the older man to walk out of the infirmary in such a hurry. “See you later, Tsunade- _baachan_!” and then turned to wave at Tsunade who immediately took an offence of how he called her. 

“Whom the hell did you call **_baachan_ ** (2), you stinky brat?!” Tsunade yelled and threw a syringe at the insolent blond that had dared to call her so rudely. She wasn’t sixty yet, damn it!

“Gyaaaa, that’s dangerous! Jeez you-... old hag!” Naruto shouted back before he dashed away while pulling the bewildered Iruka to run with him as Tsunade decided to curse him some more. 

“What a rude, boorish brat, sheesh…!” Tsunade slid the door close with unnecessary power until it slammed and rattled dangerously.

**#**

“Sheesh, Naruto… that’s a really impolite way of talking to Tsunade- _sama_!” Iruka scolded with frown on his face.

Naruto groaned morosely. “It’s beyond me why my father, _even you_ , addressed that thick make-upped old hag with **_hime_** or **_sama_** …” Naruto paled. He was still freaking out to think that there was a woman who had such monstrous power as Tsunade and was probably stronger than any man in the surface of earth. Moreover, she still looked like in her twenties even though she had passed fifty. _  
_

_What kind of makeup is she using everyday actually…?_

“You can say that because you’ve never heard about the legend of **_Sannin_** , Naruto.” Iruka apparently was on the lecture mode now, to Naruto’s dismay. “Tsunade- _sama_ , along with our head master, Jiraiya _-sama_ , and the head of biology lab, Orochimaru-san are the originators of Konoha Academy. They built this school together with their own wealth to discipline the ordinary (West building) and unordinary (East building) teenagers, so they can properly face the world and society when they become adults. Tsunade- _sama_ is really professional in handling health problems. Jiraiya- _sama_ is very good at leadership to lead the school as the principal and Orochimaru-san is an expert at research. The three of them complement each other to create a perfect educational system in this school. That’s why they’re called _The Legendary Sannin_ of Konoha City.” Iruka explained with a fervent look. 

Naruto only stared at him in disbelief. “That perverted old man Jiraiya is so great? Even that freaky Biology teacher Orochimaru?” He understood if it was Tsunade because she was a real genius, but those two old men as well? How unbelievable!

“That’s harsh, you brat,” suddenly someone spoke from behind, surprising both Naruto and Iruka. 

“ _Ero-Jiji_ (3)! Don’t freak us like that, jeez!” Naruto recognized the middle aged man instantly as he saw him. Untamed long white hair with Kabuki-like fashion (which was mysterious how he was allowed to wear such clothing without raising uproar from the students and the board), frankly Jiraiya annoyed the hell out of Naruto, almost as bad as Sasuke did.

“Ah, Jiraiya-sama, good morning,” Iruka greeted the older man politely. 

“Oh, good morning, Iruka-kun, where’s Kakashi? I don’t see him with you,” Jiraiya greeted Iruka back, seeming to ignore Naruto on purpose. That damned perverted old man. Naruto was cursing him nonstop at the background when Jiraiya talked to Iruka.

“Umm… why must Kakashi-sensei be around me, exactly?” Iruka asked, slightly sweat dropping, looking a bit nervous. 

“Eh? I thought you’re **_together_** now,” Jiraiya said with his not so innocent face, causing Iruka to blush slightly at the leer.

“Wh-what are you saying!? We’re only friends!” Iruka protested. “Anyway if you’re looking for him, he must be in West Building! He’s teaching math there!” he quickly changed the subject, his face still rather pink and he pulled Naruto to go with him to their classroom. “We still have a lesson to do, so I excuse myself,” then he huffed, apparently annoyed even though he looked embarrassed as well. 

“Ooh, how poor of Kakashi for falling in love with a man who is so _dense._ He even can’t understand the depth of his feeling…” Jiraiya cooed shamelessly, making Iruka flush even redder in embarrassment.

“Jiraiya-sama!” Iruka yelled at him, actually looking irritated and totally mortified, probably because the old man teased him so easily. Jiraiya cackled and snickered as he walked away after that. 

“Jeez, that old jiji…!” Iruka grumbled, still somehow pissed.

“Sensei, that’s not a polite way of talking about our head master,” Naruto didn’t pass the opportunity to use the same lecture Iruka gave him as the teacher twitched hearing that. 

“Naruto—!” Iruka sent him a death glare. Naruto only laughed amusedly.

“Sensei, you’re so funny!” Naruto said between his laugh. 

“Shut up!” Iruka snapped at him in exasperation.

After at least five minutes, Naruto stopped laughing and only chuckled once in awhile. Suddenly, he thought about what Jiraiya and Iruka’s conversation earlier. “Ne, sensei, how is your relationship with Kakashi-sensei?” Nope, he wasn’t trying to pry into the matter. He was just… innocently curious about the state of affair. 

At first, Iruka’s face reddened again, but then he sighed and answered “We’re good together.”

“That’s great, then!” Naruto smiled childishly, genuinely feeling happy for them. 

Oh yeah, Naruto actually knew about his teachers’ controversial love affairs. A few weeks prior, Naruto caught Iruka and Kakashi kissing in teacher lounge when he was about to return the report book in the afternoon after class had ended. At first, Naruto freaked out and desperately blamed Kakashi for corrupting Iruka’s innocence. But then, Iruka explained to him that Iruka was the one who confessed his love towards the masked silver haired teacher. After Naruto heard the entire situation, he slowly warmed up to the idea that his favorite teacher was together with Kakashi.

Naruto still didn’t understand why _Kakashi_ of all people, though. He was just as perverted as Jiraiya after all. Look at his AV and porno books collection! He even read the confiscated stuffs from the students! 

Naruto knew he was straight since he had ever only liked girls before, but he didn’t have problem with gay or lesbian. The fact that he chose to be placed in East Building had proven his open mind. He was just afraid that his precious teacher would get hurt and didn’t know whether Kakashi was the right person for Iruka. However, apparently Naruto was too overprotective, since Iruka himself looked better-off each day recently. Kakashi must have made him happy.

“Are you worried about us?” Iruka asked softly, smiling buoyantly at Naruto.

“Yeah well… it’s because that man had a history for making a lot of women cry, sensei! He’s the most perverted person in this school after that ero-jiji!” Naruto huffed, remembering something he didn’t want to.

“You’re still cautious of him.” It wasn’t a question.

“What do you expect? It’s Kakashi after all. Thank God Iruka-sensei is my home-room teacher instead of him. Or else I’d go crazy if I had to deal with him every day. I pity West Building students in his class. Must be tough for them,” Naruto said, face faulting and sweat dropping.

Iruka only smiled ruefully at him. “Well then, instead of worrying about me, why don’t you fret about your own situation? You meet Sasuke everyday now, at school and at home. Are you okay?” Now, Naruto knew he was trying to change the subject, but the concern in his tone was genuine, so Naruto scratched the back of his head, sighing.

“Well, I think it’s still fine so far since we haven’t tried to kill each other yet. But…I got to admit that I suffered more mental damages since we started living together. I don’t know what happened, but somehow… I think about him more these days and it’s frustrating because I can’t seem to get him out of my mind,” Naruto was agitated. At a time like this, he just wanted to get into a fight to calm his nerves.

Iruka lifted one of his eyebrows. He looked rather strange when he gazed at Naruto, making him rather curious of what the teacher was thinking when he was being silent like that. Then, a small knowing smile bloomed on Iruka’s face. “So… you think about him a lot… everyday?”

_What was that? Why is he smiling like that?_

“What? Why are you asking me that?” Naruto couldn’t help feeling suspicious. He didn’t like being oblivious, but he didn’t want to think too deeply about this stuff either. He got a bad omen that he would find _something_ that would bring nothing but trouble if he obsessed over it after all.

“Oh, nothing… I’m just wondering why you guys hate each other so much. After all, there’s no plausible cause for your resentment towards Sasuke in the first place. Did he do something to you?” Iruka asked.

“Well, that was…!” Naruto blinked and stopped walking immediately.

_Huh…? I wonder why…?_

“That was… what?” Iruka also stopped walking, raising his other eyebrow in reaction.

“Eh, well… I’m not…sure,” he said slowly, mulling over the reasons.

_Now that I think about it… I’m not exactly sure as well why I hate him except for his disagreeable and conceited personality. Actually, I don’t have any reason to hate him other than because we have to hate each other since it’s some kind of rule to be the bosses of East and West Building. Sasuke never starts anything. Besides, it’s always me who creates trouble just to get a reaction from that Ice Prince. Man, why did I do that?_

Naruto was getting confused by now. He really didn’t have a particular reason of holding abhorrence towards the dark haired boy. Sasuke had never done anything worth holding a grudge for Naruto after all. But then, there was one time… one time that Naruto vividly remembered.

A flash of memory entered Naruto’s mind, bringing him to the time when he first met Sasuke…

_It was when Naruto stepped inside the gate of Konoha Academy ground for the first time after he was enrolled, and because he was so excited the night before, he couldn’t sleep and overslept the next morning. He tried to catch the welcome ceremony for new students; that’s why he ran to school. When he entered the school, Naruto saw him; the beautiful raven haired teen in white gakuran that looked upward at the fluttering cherry blossom petals dancing around, a soft appreciative smile adorning his gentle stunning face._

_Naruto widened his eyes, not knowing how to describe his feeling when his sight was completely caught by such almost surreal scene. In his mind, the view was extraordinarily gorgeous that even the chatty Naruto lost words. Soon after, the raven seemed to realize that someone was watching, so he turned aside slightly facing Naruto’s direction, his deep obsidian eyes meeting Naruto’s baby blue and Naruto felt his breath catch for a moment._

_“Ah, are you a new student too?” Naruto couldn’t help asking awhile later, flushing slightly at the instant intense feeling he felt for him, completely intending to befriend this absolute beauty._

_The dark haired boy who later he knew as Uchiha Sasuke only stared at him blankly for a few seconds. Then, like a switch, his expression turned cold and stoic, an absolute antipathy in his gaze. “Hn,” was his only icy answer before he left Naruto alone, feeling somewhat hurt even though he should have been used to such attitude thrown in his face…_

_HUH?!—_ Naruto snapped out of his recollection as his inner self panicked. _Whooaaaa, wait, wait, waaaiiit! What the heck!? Who—who the hell got hurt by Sasuke’s instant rejection of friendship offering?!_ (Eh, did anyone say something about rejection?)

Naruto nearly strangled himself literally as he shook his head curtly, his face heating at the stupid, idiotic thought that was suddenly evoked from his memory. “Damn it! It’s not because of that! T-that’s a _FALSE_ memory! It didn’t happen like that at ALL! Besides, it’s just because he’s a cocky bastard that always pisses me off! I HATE him because of that and nothing else!” he _had to_ shout it out, to no one in particular actually, because he needed to establish that fact to _himself_.

Besides, _that_ happened months ago. His memory was fuzzy ( _really?)_. Yeah. He didn’t have to think unnecessary thing by remembering useless stuff like that.

“Hmm… is that all?”

Iruka’s voice jolted Naruto out of his self-convincing as he looked upward at the teacher who stared at him rather inquisitively. “Ye-yeah! That’s all!” he raised his voice, not knowing why he felt very defensive so suddenly. “What, do you think there’s more to it?”

“Well… are you absolutely sure? Aren’t you just trying to deny something?” Iruka seemed very amused now.

“Of course I’m sure, sensei! Anyway, what do you mean by denying something?” Naruto growled, his face heating even more for some reasons, and he absolutely had no idea what was going on. Why was his heart beating harder anyway? This was so very odd!

“Oh, nothing,” Iruka chuckled. “Well, it’s ok if you’re sure that _that_ was your reason for hating Sasuke, but maybe you can try to think it more deeply, Naruto. Sometimes it’s really difficult to understand your own feeling after all.” He ruffled Naruto’s hair gently after that, while smiling softly as if he was talking about his own experience with something precious.

Naruto couldn’t protest when Iruka made such expression, even though he was positive that nothing deeper should be thought over, especially if it included Sasuke in it. “Tsk, alright, whatever,” he felt like acting disagreeable about it, but he only appear to sigh in resignation.

_There’s nothing to think about anymore. Yeah, it must be it. I hate Sasuke because he’s an annoying, arrogant bastard and nothing more… right?_

* * *

 

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

 

Later in Student Council—

“Sa~su~ke~,” Kakashi called, not; he actually sang Sasuke’s name with such irritating tone.

Sasuke’s eyebrows twitched in reaction when he heard that silver haired teacher’s voice. Had Kakashi not been a teacher, Sasuke would have thrown his sharpened pencil to the guy’s visible eye. “What do you need, sensei?” Despite his annoyance, Sasuke still smiled politely towards his teacher. His image was important after all.

“Hmm, such creepy smile really doesn’t suit your face,” Kakashi commented, his visible eye curving downward in a hidden smile since he wore a mask all the time. He seemed completely amused at the way Sasuke tried to maintain his anger with his fake ‘nice’ expression. Sasuke involuntarily snapped his pencil into two parts in a surge of rage he couldn’t contain with his crumbling self control.

Seriously, Sasuke HATED the guy. No matter how much Sasuke tried to act nonchalant to him, Kakashi seemed to know all the buttons to make Sasuke angry and lose all his coolness, driving him nuts every single day, just like Naruto. It seemed that the teacher wanted to aggravate him on purpose and Sasuke had no idea how to deal with him without screaming at him in frustration.

“Sensei, if you’re here only to piss me off, please _leave_. I’m a bit busy here,” Sasuke said counting to ten to calm his wrath, not wanting to start violence against his own home-room teacher. He should ignore Kakashi and got back to his works.

_Yes, let’s do that._

“Ah, so it’s alright if I spread the _big news_ to the entire school about—”

Kakashi couldn’t finish his words because Sasuke immediately slammed the table _hard_ , stood and stumbled noisily and as fast as he could to grab his teacher and pulled him to run with him, away from the crowd (Neji) in the office.

**#**

Neji blinked once before he looked at the sudden abandoned post, face faulting. “What the heck was that…?” He was rather dumfounded. It was the first time he saw Sasuke in such a panic. What the hell was going on? What was the news Kakashi was talking about anyway?

Neji was very curious, but getting involved with Sasuke’s personal matter was equally asking for a disaster, so he didn’t really want to know. As long as the student council could run the school program properly, he shouldn’t complain at all even though there were tons of things to nag about.

A few minutes of comfortable silence in the room later, Shino walked into room. “Shino, you’re late,” Neji scolded, not really looking at the tall boy, but he knew it was Shino from his peripheral vision.

“Neji, where’s Sasuke?” Shino asked slowly even though he was slightly out of breath, like he had just run for sometime or someshot. Still, apparently he didn’t mind Neji’s rebuke.

Neji frowned, not liking being disregarded. “He’s with Kakashi-sensei somewhere. What, something happened?” he lifted his eyebrows now, silently demanding an answer. He could always give the message for Sasuke later if this had to be handled by Sasuke after all, but in Sasuke’s absence, he was in charge.

Shino looked slightly hesitant, but then he sighed. “Well, actually…” then he told Neji what he saw.

“Eh…?” Neji widened his eyes, his face paling slightly.

“Neji, it could be just misunderstanding,” Shino said. “We should wait for Sasuke to look into—”

But, Neji couldn’t hear the rest of Shino’s words as fury were slowly filling his head. “As if I could wait that long—! Uzumaki Naruto—!”

Honestly, Neji had never had personal odium towards the boss of East Building other than for his obnoxious and vulgar personality, but this was crossing the line. The son of a bitch had touched his cousin. He was a dead man!

* * *

 

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

 

At the storage room in West Building—

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, you degenerate sensei—?” Sasuke clenched at Kakashi’s collar and glared daggers at his visible eye, apparently not bothering to mask his antagonism anymore.

“Ah, that’s more like the Uchiha Sasuke I knew,” Kakashi grinned, not intimidated in the slightest. Sasuke was one of his favorite students (to tease). Though, he could get extremely annoying when he decided to hide behind his mask of stoic prince when the real Sasuke was so much fun to rile up. Kakashi understood why Naruto tried to bait Sasuke all the time. His real personality came forward when he was furious after all.

And compared to that blank, cold zombie-like teenage boy, the fuming Sasuke was better.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sasuke growled, shoving Kakashi away before scratching his head curtly in frustration.

Kakashi smiled in amusement. “Never mind that. Anyway, here.” Then he offered some papers to Sasuke.

“What is it?” Sasuke let out a deep sigh, looking resigned and tired all of sudden when he received the papers.

“Exchanged schedules. I want you to send these to Iruka-sensei in East Building,” Kakashi smirked inwardly.

_…3…2…1_

“An ERRAND?!” Sasuke exploded, staring incredulously at Kakashi who wanted to laugh at Sasuke’s super odd expression. Sasuke seemed to catch up that Kakashi was trying to suppress his laughter and ended up popping some vicious irate veins on his head. “You could have sent _anyone_ _else with a lot of free time in their hands_ for this! I’m busy, you know!”

“I just gave you an excuse to visit East Building for some bonding time.” Oh, this was so interesting.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Sasuke seemed to want to play innocent, but his face flushed slightly as he continued complaining about Kakashi abusing his power to order Sasuke around for petty tasks. Even Sasuke’s brutal criticism cracked Kakashi up. Man, he was just so adorable sometimes.

After some grumbling though, Sasuke only sighed in defeat. He kept the paper obediently as Kakashi stared at him for awhile. “What now?” the raven glared at him again, looking impatient for some reasons.

“No, just a thought…are you okay with your new house and family?” Kakashi finally asked what he was dying to ask. After all, that was the sole reason why he wanted to talk to Sasuke today.

“That’s not your business!” Sasuke snapped, looking extremely wary. Still so defensive about his family matters, huh?

“Aw, that’s mean. I am just worried, you know? You look rather stressed out today and it’s not even noon,” Kakashi faked a hurt look, and Sasuke flinched slightly at his genuine concern.

Sasuke slumped with a weary expression. “Sorry, sensei, it’s because, like you guessed, I’m stressed out because a certain annoying blond boy enters my life. Since we live together, I can’t ignore him at all. It’s stressing enough to see him at school, now we have to face each other at home too. I don’t know why I think about him so much, and it’s infuriating like hell because I can’t get him out of my mind!” Sasuke shouted now, even though he didn’t seem to realize it.

Kakashi was dumbstruck at the sudden outburst of his favorite student. It was the first time he saw such priceless bothered expression on Sasuke’s usually calm face (except when he was fighting). He wondered what made Uchiha lose his composure to the extent of cracking his cold mask. “Hmm…can’t get him out of your mind, eh…?” Kakashi was getting more amused as he realized what this was.

“What’s with suspicious look?” Sasuke grunted warily now, looking at Kakashi as if he were thinking something absolutely horrendous. Well, Kakashi wanted Sasuke to think about it, though. So he could be more aware of why Naruto occupied his mind so much.

_Ah, youngsters. How endearing—_ Kakashi chuckled slightly.

“What?” Sasuke seemed getting apprehensive, so Kakashi decided to give him a hint.

“Oh, nothing, Sasuke… It’s just strange, you know; if you think about someone so much without reason.” Kakashi said slowly.

“Isn’t it obviously because I HATE him?” Sasuke scowled.

“Hate, huh… well, what makes you hate him anyway?” Kakashi asked again.

“That’s because he…! …?” Sasuke paused. His face looked confused for a moment, before he frowned. He was silent for a long time and still hadn’t showed any indication to continue his words, until Kakashi was getting impatient himself.

“That’s because he… what?” Kakashi pushed.

“I’m thinking about that, damn it!” Sasuke snapped at him in frustration now.

Sasuke was silent again, seeming to contemplate it seriously. The reasons of his irritation whenever Naruto was around, Kakashi could actually guess because it happened to him when he didn’t realize that he was crushing on Iruka-sensei before the younger man confessed to him. Well, it wasn’t necessarily the same thing, since Sasuke was young, but it was possibly very close to it. Anyway, it would be better if Sasuke realized it himself. Though, it was probably difficult at this stage because Sasuke was too prideful sometimes. He probably wouldn’t want to admit it even though he realized what it was. Such a difficult boy…

Sasuke suddenly flushed for some reasons, and he made a gesture as if he was berating himself mentally for thinking something so stupid. “I hate him because he’s stupid and annoying!” Then he animatedly yelled, as if he were trying to convince himself. Kakashi shook his head.

“Ooh, he’s stupid and annoying… Is that all, really?” Kakashi prod more deeply.

“Yes, that’s all.” Sasuke hissed. His tone was hard and cynical, and Kakashi knew how people sounded when they were in denial of some short.

“Are you sure? Or…don’t you just deny something else?” Kakashi was seriously having fun with Sasuke’s reaction, really, because then Sasuke jerked and shouted right away.

“I’m sure about that, damn it! What do you mean by denying something!?”

Well, Sasuke sounded very irritated. Maybe Kakashi had gone too far. It was time to retreat. He could always tease Sasuke again another time. “Alright, if you say so…” He shrugged. “Just be careful, sometimes our pride can cloud our judgment. Unless you think about it more deeply and objectively, it’s easy to overlook some possibilities, Sasuke.” Kakashi ruffled Sasuke’s hair slightly before he turned around and waved dismissingly as he walked away.

_Let this be a predicament for Sasuke to think. He’s a smart kid. He’ll catch up soon enough_ —Kakashi smiled. It was so interesting playing with his student. He’d tell Iruka about this matter later at home.

**#**

“The hell does he mean?” Sasuke was fuming. He didn’t understand a single thing Kakashi said. Why was his teacher so strange anyway? Spouting such nonsense like that about the reasons of his hatred towards Naruto…!

_“Are you a new student too?”_

Sasuke remembered the way Naruto smiled when they met for the first time at the opening ceremony. It was so bright, like the sun. So innocent and pure, _untouchable_. He wore black gakuran without a care of the world, flaunting his free spirit so foolishly. Such person always recklessly spoke about love and friendship, their promises uttered without meaning and responsibility to keep. An ignorant personality that knew nothing about hardship and pain… As if Sasuke could like someone like that. His very existence was just an eyesore, grating Sasuke’s nerves.

_That’s right… such polar opposite of me, there’s no wonder that we’re meant to hate each other—_ Sasuke reached his hand up to his chest, clenching at his uniform tightly. He didn’t know why, but even though he was convinced that that was the reason of his hatred towards Naruto, his heart throbbed more painfully, squeezing his chest slightly.

_Right?_

“Sasuke!”

Sasuke snapped out of his confusing train of thought at the sudden call from outside the door. He looked upward only to find Shino panting slightly, looking rather frantic. “Shino?”

“It’s emergency. Neji is…!”

Sasuke widened his eyes. “What did you say?!”

* * *

 

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in Naruto’s classroom….

“Aaah, how boring…!” Naruto whined when he flipped his text book. It was a free study time because Iruka only gave them a task to write a classical poem before leaving, since he had to attend some meeting. No one in his class was stupid enough to pass the time to laze around instead of doing the task. After all, they could always do that at home. Obviously, it was Iruka fault for not deciding the deadline of submitting the work. Seriously, their teacher was very naïve sometimes. Or he just plainly forgot about it.

“Why isn’t there anyone picking a fight today?” Naruto asked, looking totally bored out of his mind.

Naruto’s classmates looked at him as if he were a lunatic.

_Only Naruto would think fighting as ‘fun’ approach to kill boredom…._

“What is it, Naruto? Bored? Why don’t we spar for a bit then?” Gaara offered tonelessly, just in time when he was itching to hit something.

“Heeh, sparring with Gaara? It’s been awhile,” Naruto smirked; his sky-blue eyes alight with mischief.

“Yeah, once in awhile I need some exercise too,” Gaara’s mouth twitched up slightly while he cracked his knuckles. He knew he looked scary and only Naruto would beam at him when he was like that.

“Ooh, what a confidence! Don’t blame me if you’re bruised later, Gaara-kun!” Naruto stood, and immediately all of his classmates moved away to give them space to fight.

“I won’t hold back today, Naruto,” Gaara was serious. He needed an outlet for some of his repressed energy after all.

“Heh, bring it on!” Naruto seemed excited. Well, he probably was. Only Naruto and a certain Uchiha had ever seen Gaara getting serious in a fight after all. Most East Building students regarded Gaara’s fighting skill legendary for his brutality even though Gaara’s body was small enough and he didn’t look like someone who could pull such thing. Though, everyone knew with the right button to push, Gaara was capable of murder.

“Ok, then, everyone! I, Inuzuka Kiba, will be commentator of the match between Gaara the Dessert and Naruto the Nine Tails!” Kiba shouted as if he were a reporter or something.

Immediately, there was hullabaloo in the entire East Building and even students from other classes gathered around Gaara and Naruto to watch. There were students cheering for Gaara and some others for Naruto. However, there were also some students who just sighed at their infantile stupidity and ignored them, including Shikamaru who was still innocently sleeping at his desk.

“3…2…1… Begin!” Kiba shouted again and Naruto almost hit Gaara in a preliminary attack when there was a sudden loud _bang_ from the door direction. Someone apparently opened it harshly and forcefully. Everyone, excluding Naruto and Gaara, turned to face the intruder who just entered the room.

“UZUMAKI NARUTO!” That intruder shouted Naruto’s name so loudly and fiercely, such that surprised almost everyone in the room, but mostly Naruto because he almost fell in his shock, losing his equilibrium when he attacked Gaara. Luckily, Gaara had ungodly reflex. Aside dodging the attack, he even caught Naruto’s body before he could kiss the ground.

“Uwaaa, that’s dangerous…! Thanks Gaara,” Naruto said when he was balancing his body again.

“It’s nothing. Besides…” Gaara replied coolly before he turned to face the intruder of their match, narrowing his eyes slightly at him, sending out his aura of hostility instantly. “What do you want, Hyuuga?” He didn’t even bother to call him ‘senpai’. He didn’t deserve it anyway.

Neji flinched slightly as Gaara’s killer emerald eyes seemed to pierce him like a knife. Neji also narrowed his eyes at him, but somehow he looked rather uncertain. Well, Gaara couldn’t blame him. They had a very bad history after all and the only thing that kept Gaara from killing the older boy was because Naruto told him not to. His argument was even Gaara’s father wouldn’t be able to keep Gaara out of jail this time around, especially if it was premeditated.

“Step aside, Gaara. This does not concern you.” Neji replied with a bitter tone, anger and resentment barely kept in check, but there was a hint of something else in his voice when he spoke to Gaara. Anyway, he didn’t hide his disgust at all when he glared at Naruto afterwards. “I have business with you, Uzumaki Naruto!”

Still, Gaara didn’t intend to do what Neji told him to do. The one who could order him around was himself, and maybe Naruto, but the latter had to beg first before Gaara relented. “Hmm… big words, as expected of Hyuuga Neji, the Vice President of Student Council. But too bad, everything that concerns Naruto concerns me too.”

Gaara stood in front of Naruto who only blinked in confusion as he was defending him from Neji.

Neji hissed. “I’m telling you to back off, Sunano Gaara, or I won’t be held responsible for what I’m about to do. Not even you can defend that _scum_ behind you this time!”

Apparently, Neji was enraged enough about something because he, who was usually a reasonable person, actually raised his fist. Gaara didn’t see this coming at all and was too late to dodge the sudden attack, when unexpectedly Naruto grabbed Neji’s wrist to stop him.

“Whoa-whoa! Wait a sec! What the hell, Neji! You do know picking a fight without reason is violation of your own rules, right? What is wrong with you?” Naruto gripped Neji’s fist hard, seeming oblivious to why Neji was so angry until he lost his reasoning and succumbed into violence.

Neji shoved Naruto’s hand harshly. “Huh. And you of all people could say that? As if you had any reason for fighting… You even don’t have any right to call my first name! And I believe that fate had decided that I am older than you, Uzumaki, so give me some respect by calling me ‘senpai’!” Now he shoved at Naruto’s chest furiously.

_There is it, his fate…._

The others thought incredulously, sweat dropping. Even Naruto’s face faulted slightly, probably thinking that this was foolhardy. Naruto seemed able to keep his temper in check, though. That was new. Usually he would lash out if people got physical without reason.

Naruto took a deep breath now. “Alright, Hyuuga-senpai, what happened actually? Why do you look for me?” he asked, seemingly trying to be patient.

“What happened?!” Neji’s voice rose in shrill disbelief, “You HURT my cousin! That’s what happened! Shino told me you brought her to infirmary this morning! What did you do to her?! How dare you lay your finger on defenseless girl, you degenerate asshole!” Now, Neji grabbed Naruto’s collar and yanked him hard.

“Your cousin…?” Naruto seemed dumbfounded. “Ah, you mean Hinata-chan?”

Neji’s last string of patience seemed to snap (they could almost hear it literally) as he growled “Calling Hinata-sama so casually like that… you insolent bastard!” Then he raised his fist once again, while Naruto still looked confused, and then he immediately punched Naruto hard, square on his left cheek, shocking the entire class, including Naruto.

“Wha-…what the hell are you doing, you-bastard!?”

Kiba (and Naruto’s other subordinates including Gaara) immediately tried to jump Neji in boiling wrath when they realized what Neji had done. Naruto hadn’t even had a time to defend himself because he seemed still thinking about what Neji was accusing him done even though everyone should have known that Naruto had a code that forbade him to (physically) hurt any women and weaklings.

However, before they could really rough Neji up, Naruto spread his arm to stop them. “Naruto?!” Kiba looked at him confusedly. Why did he stop them?

“Hold it, Kiba. He’s mine,” Naruto snarled in dangerous tone when he glanced at Kiba. His irises were changing color, from clear blue sky into red crimson, his pupils constricting into thin diamond slit, like foxes’.

Kiba and probably everyone else shivered when he saw those blood-red eyes. Those creepy evil looking orbs which cause everyone to acknowledge Naruto as the boss of East Building in the first place even though Naruto was just a freshman, overtaking everyone, even the previous boss, Temari. While he was using those beastly eyes, no one could resist Naruto’s words because they knew the terror of those eyes if they dared to disobey him; those frightening blood-lust eyes when Naruto was still ‘ _brutally_ active’ in his ‘Kyuubi Gang’ during his middle school.

Everyone, including Neji apparently, gulped slightly seeing the hazardous look.

_Hyuuga Neji is dead!_ —they thought in unison now.

“Hyuuga-senpai, may I know why you suddenly hit me? If your reason makes sense, maybe I won’t kill you and only send you to hospital for a week, but if it doesn’t…well, you’d better call your parents now to prepare your funeral,” Naruto said, his voice sounding composed, but everyone knew it was like a calm before a storm. Naruto’s smirk was threatening enough for people to run away screaming, when he was wiping the blood from the corner of his slightly busted mouth.

Neji was a total idiot because he still got a nerve to talk back instead of running away. “Still playing innocent, huh…! How preposterous! Rendering Hinata-sama unconscious like that…! There’s a line for cowardice, Uzumaki! I misjudged you!”

“I didn’t do anything to her,” Naruto argued seriously.

“Liar! Shino saw you bringing her to infirmary!” Neji shouted at him irately.

“That doesn’t mean I hurt her!” Naruto snapped impatiently.

“Heh, I wonder if it’s a fate. You often babble about justice of your own way, but you hit an innocent girl. Is that the boss of East Building? No wonder, if the boss is trash then his subordinates are worse than trash!” Well, Neji was already on the edge of a cliff, but insulting all the East Building students was a definite, suicidal move because now Naruto seemed ready to explode.

Naruto immediately grabbed Neji’s collar while hissing. “Senpai, you may insult me as much as you want, but I won’t stay put doing nothing if you insult my friends! Take that back, you asshole!” Naruto raised his fist, ready to send Neji to hell when suddenly someone stopped his fist.

“That’s enough!”

Everyone gasped, very surprised because they didn’t see him before he made his move. Since god knew when, he already stood so near Naruto’s spot and now he was holding Naruto’s wrist tightly. They were all too caught up in Naruto and Neji’s conversation, apparently, that they actually missed Uchiha Sasuke’s entrance.

Naruto glanced at the dark haired Student Council President and growled lowly. “Sasuke….”

“Sasuke, don’t interfere!” Neji seemed very emotional that he even yelled at Sasuke. “I’m here to ask for this scum’s responsibility for causing harm to Hinata-sa—!”

_SMACK!_

Neji widened his eyes in total shock when his line was cut by Sasuke’s hard slap connecting to his left cheek. Naruto and all of his friends gaped at this turn of event.

“Ah… it’s too late…” Shino sighed just a few meters behind Sasuke, looking troubled.

“Shino?” Kiba looked at the head of the Executive Committee, getting even more confused.

_What’s going on here?_ —everyone couldn’t help feeling very baffled at this.

**#**

Somehow, when Naruto saw Sasuke slap Neji, his anger instantly drained away along with the red-color of his irises. He blinked his baby blue orbs once now, flabbergasted and dumfounded.

“Sa-…Sasuke…?” Neji covered his left cheek, eyes looking betrayed and hurt as he stared at Sasuke’s onyx ones in bewilderment.

“Cool your head, Neji. How immature. Judging people without evidence is strictly forbidden not only in our school, but also in the entire world. I have heard from Shino and I’ve brought Hinata with me. Ask her if you want to know the detail of what happened,” Sasuke’s voice and tone was frosty when he spoke to Neji, not even regarding him as a senpai, causing everyone to gasp because Sasuke wasn’t usually so _ruthless_ to his own people.

“But—!” Neji seemed still about to protest, but when Hinata hurriedly came over to calm him down, Neji shut his mouth.

_Sa-Sasuke… What are you doing…?_ —Naruto was still very confused of what just happened. Sasuke suddenly defended him? Was the world going to end tomorrow and only Naruto didn’t realize that?

Then, Sasuke unexpectedly turned around, facing Naruto now. He stared at Naruto’s eyes for awhile before he bowed in front of him. “I’m so sorry for Neji’s rudeness. I will definitely punish him later, so if you don’t mind, please release him without any harm,” Sasuke said politely with his eyes closed, and bore the shame for bowing in front of Naruto.

Naruto dropped his jaw in a shock while his classmates and all of the students in south building “EEEEEEEEEEEEH!?”-shrieked at him in utter disbelief. Soon enough there was uproar echoing through corridors in south building, announcing the defeat of the boss from West Building to the boss of East Building.

_Holy CRAP! Sasuke is…! Sasuke is…bowing in front of me!_ —Naruto didn’t know if he had to jump dancing in joy or to faint because of the too much shock.

“And if you still felt dissatisfied to release him unharmed, I will take a responsibility of his action. You can punch me as much as you want,” Sasuke added, still not lifting his head, his voice calm and collected and Naruto was truly impressed with how Sasuke handled this situation.

_To think that that pompous Sasuke actually lowers his head… and to ME of all people!_

Naruto could only gawk in admiration. Suddenly, he was greeted by the realization that this was how Sasuke led the West Building all the time. If it was for the greater good of his group, he wasn’t ashamed of lowering his head when he was in the wrong. As a leader, he not only protected his subordinates, but also took the responsibility for their action with his own body. Somehow, it looked….

_So cool…!_ —Naruto acknowledged him instantly. He smiled slightly before then grinned happily.

“It’s ok, Sasuke!” Naruto said in lightened mood while he pulled Sasuke’s body to straighten it up, so he could lift his head to look at Naruto in the eye. “I’m fine, and it’s enough for me if you show your determination as a leader! Somehow…it looks cool! I like it!” He exclaimed while smiling cutely and gazing cheerily at Sasuke’s rather widened obsidian ones.

Sasuke looked surprised before his cheeks visibly redden, but he seemed to try not to show that in front of the others, even though Naruto could see it clearly. Sasuke must have been embarrassed. However, Naruto also noticed his gaze shifting to the bruise on the left corner of Naruto’s mouth.

“You’re injured,” Sasuke said slowly, absentmindedly, and as if it was a reflex, he reached his right hand up at Naruto’s chin and then, his gaze eventually fell onto Naruto’s lips before Naruto could feel the soft gentle caress of Sasuke’s thumb on his bottom lip.

It was like… time stopped moving. Naruto widened his eyes as Sasuke kept his mindless ministration. Sasuke’s lowered gaze was very enticing; his obsidian irises seemed glowing softly, almost trapping Naruto’s own completely. He even didn’t realize that he was holding his breath—

Well, until he heard the girls around them suddenly squeal at the surprisingly awkward scene.

Sasuke snapped and pulled his hand away from Naruto as if he was on fire, and looked upward in surprise to meet Naruto’s face which instantly flushed hot like a furnace. Both were unable to say anything while the girls were still busy squealing, some boys face faulting, and some even fainting to see the suspiciously intimate state of affairs between them.

Then like a cue to run away from the gossips, Sasuke immediately grabbed Naruto’s hand and pulled him to walk out the classroom.

“EH?! W-wai—! Sasuke!? What the hell are you doing, bastard!?” Naruto couldn’t help squawking, still very hot and embarrassed and he didn’t understand what had just happened at all as he panicked. Moreover, Sasuke wasn’t helping at all because he kept silent as he was dragging him away from his class.

_Sasuke…?_ —Naruto wondered immediately when he caught a glimpse of Sasuke covering his face with his free hand. Naruto still could make out that Sasuke’s face was still reddening in darker color. Even his ears turned red! He was blushing like mad! _No way…, have I seen an illusion?_ —Naruto gaped again, totally in disbelief. He was astonished and freaked out a little bit when he felt Sasuke’s grip tightening on his arm, forcing him to follow the raven to wherever he headed to…

_What… what the hell is going on with us…?!_

**End of Chapter 3**

**Tbc…**

* * *

 

**Side Notes:**

(1) ** _Niisama_ :** one of the ways to call older brother in Japan. Aside this there are also _Oniisan, niichan, aniki, aniue_ etc based on the politeness

(2) ** _Baachan_ :** one of ways to call a grandmother or elders. Aside that, there are also: _Obaasama, obaasan, obaachan_ etc based on the politeness

(3) ** _Jiji_ :** one of ways to call a grandfather or elders. Aside that, there are also: _Ojiisama, ojiisan, ojiichan_ etc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is insane. This was supposed to be 7000 words, but when I remake it, it turned into over 10000 words. No wonder it took so much time to edit this one. Well, whatever. Hope you enjoy this chapter. See ya in next!


	5. Chapter 4: What a Mess!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the misunderstanding causes incredible mess...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for making you wait. Enjoy ^_^  
>  **Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine**  
>  **Warning:** _AU, foul language, mild violence, hints of shounen ai SasuNaru._

  
**Chapter 4:** _**What a Mess!** _   


* * *

"Then…what happened?" Tsunade asked from her seat as Naruto sat on the bed and Sasuke kept his distance and his gaze away from Naruto, standing and leaning his back against the infirmary door while self-reflecting on what just happened in the classroom earlier.

Sasuke couldn't believe it. What had he done? What was he thinking? No, he _wasn't._ That was the problem. He wasn't thinking at all. He just kind of felt strange when he saw the bruise on Naruto's skin and his hand kind of moved on its own accord by instinct. Somehow, he was irritated that someone else had even managed to land a _mark_ on Naruto and Sasuke didn't know why…!

"Neji punched me," He heard Naruto begin, "It seems that he misunderstood something about Hinata-chan's case this morning," the blond heaved out a long sigh.

"I'm not talking about that," Tsunade pursed her lips, "I'm talking about _**you two**_ _._ " Sasuke couldn't help wincing as she glanced at him for a moment before refocusing her gaze on the stilled Naruto.

Apparently, Sasuke didn't realize that his own face was still colored _pink_ from the unintentional blush. Well, he knew now since Tsunade gave him a weird look and it was kind of still warm. Naruto looked uncomfortable as well, his face reddening slightly. On the way to infirmary earlier, Sasuke noticed that Naruto was quiet after complaining so much. Then, Sasuke also realized that he was still holding Naruto's hand while his mind decided to betray him and think that Naruto's bewildered expression was so damn cute he thought he had gone mad.

Sasuke sensed that if they didn't run away fast, there would be a hell of consequence. He figured bringing Naruto to infirmary was a good excuse if he needed to explain his action later, but… looking at this situation, anyone would say ' _oh, how wrong he was_ '.

Sasuke forgot that Tsunade was very perceptive, especially if it was about Naruto, because the said blond was her favorite student (despite being a delinquent). Because he not only came to infirmary (because he always fought) so often, but also had an integrity which Tsunade quite adored. Sasuke suspected that in her mind, Naruto was some kind of a sweet misunderstood child.

Well, Naruto did look a lot like his father, down to certain traits of his personality, but Sasuke heard some nasty rumors about his mother's family. At the background check, it was known that Naruto was the son of a very notorious Yakuza family in Tokyo, Kyuubi Gumi. Naruto was quite active in shouldering his family name when he was in middle school apparently, that he got the title 'Nine Tails' from other delinquents that knew his family history. But it appeared that _something_ happened that caused him to leave the family.

 _Maybe he gets his annoying traits from his mother—_ Sasuke couldn't help speculating, perspiring slightly since never once did he consider Naruto's yakuza family in equation every time they fought before, but he sure as hell wouldn't start now. Naruto was _Naruto_ after all. No matter what the rumor said, he wasn't that _low_ to use his family influence for children's brawl.

#

"Well, it's…" Naruto could say nothing to answer Tsunade's inquiry. Hell, he even didn't know what actually happened earlier.

 _Darn it! It's entirely Sasuke's fault! Because he suddenly touched my lip like that…!_ —Naruto couldn't help blushing again as the memory resurfaced. He was so embarrassed and damn confused too. _What was that about, actually?!_

"Nothing happened," Sasuke's cold tone that responded to the question before Naruto could elaborate some explanation rather pissed Naruto off despite the uncomfortable silence that followed after that.

Though, Naruto decided to shut his mouth because he wouldn't want unnecessary poking from Tsunade. Well, it was obviously futile though, seeing that Tsunade narrow her gaze at him and Sasuke alternatively in palpable curiosity.

"Well then, it's not like I don't know that something _**must have happened**_ , but I'll let it go," _for now_ was left unsaid, but Naruto could almost hear it as she smirked at him. Naruto groaned inwardly. That look was just plain evil. She wouldn't let Naruto live it down if she found out. "Anyway, stay put while I'm treating your wound." She shrugged, tone completely carefree moments later as she began to fix Naruto. He flinched occasionally at the sting when the antiseptic made contact with his open wound. "I'll put some band aid for the busted lip, but the bruised cheek has to cool down, so I'll apply some cooling balm on it. Make sure to keep it cool by putting ice or something…"

Naruto was bored. He knew the drill already, so she shouldn't have told him over and over again. But, for the sake of his beloved life, he would be quiet and take the instruction like an obedient kid he _wasn't_.

"My, it's so rare to see you in a set and still in total silence," Tsunade suddenly commented, hummed slightly as she taped his lip, obviously amused because neither Naruto nor Sasuke made any noise.

"A set… what do you take me for, a merchandise? Please, I'm _not_ like that pretty boy over there," Naruto sneered, a vein popping up on his temple as he thumbed Sasuke's direction.

"Huh, compared to me, you'd be a _fake_ one, dumbass." It wasn't a surprise when Sasuke's demeaning insult followed Naruto's, complete with the venom and annoyance in one package.

Naruto and Sasuke immediately exchanged death glares before their cursing match started again in record time. Tsunade sighed deeply, looking regretful for her own nosy commentary that sparked the boys' animosity in the rare peaceful occasion.

"Okay, it's done." Apparently Tsunade decided to ignore the colorful language flying around the room while Naruto and Sasuke completely ignored her presence since they were still busy drowning in their _little war_.

Naruto should have known it was a bad move because he could gradually feel the bad mood rising from the infirmary doctor. By the time he realized the danger, it was too late because he and Sasuke had totally pissed Tsunade off so much, such that she inhaled deeply before- "I SAID I'M DONE! NOW GET OUT FROM HERE!"

Yeah, she fucking yelled at them and then _literally_ kicked their asses out of the infirmary before slamming the door shut in Naruto and Sasuke's face.

"Ow, fuck…! Damn that old hag…!" Naruto muttered in irritation as he was stroking his abused butt. She didn't hold back at all. It would be hard to sit after such agonizing blow to his bottom.

Sasuke slowly stood while sighing in silence. Though he probably also cursed Tsunade inwardly because he was glaring daggers at the innocent infirmary door. Naruto soon followed his example. He glanced at Sasuke, yet the raven refused to look back, seeming to disregard him on purpose.

 _Shit! He frustrates me…!_ —Naruto was pretty much aggravated as he scratched his head curtly.

"Sasuke," Naruto tried to get his attention, but Sasuke was still pretty adamant on ignoring him. It infuriated him even more. "Damn it, SASUKE!"

"What?" Sasuke barked at him in visible exasperation.

"The hell is wrong with you!? Why the fuck did you do _**THAT**_ all of sudden?" Naruto asked, referring to the case when Sasuke defended him from Neji, totally curious of what Sasuke's reason was actually.

"It-it's nothing. My body just moved on its own accord…" Sasuke averted his gaze away, his voice slightly stuttering and dear God... was he blushing?

Naruto gaped slightly. Sasuke _was_ blushing for fuck sake! What was he blushing for? What the heck did he imagine…? Naruto gasped. _Don't tell me…! He's confusing the scene with the time he touched my lip…?!_

"Hold on! Wait a damn second! I'm talking about why you defended me from Neji, you ass! Not the accident when you suddenly touched my lip! Wait, I wanna know about that too, but it's too out of character for you so I will just forget about that shit!" Naruto was completely aware that he was ranting, but who cared? He needed to make sense of everything that happened between them after all.

Sasuke's face turned a darker shed of red and Naruto couldn't help his face heating as well in resonance. "Why are you blushing?!" Damn Sasuke for embarrassing him as well for being embarrassed so clearly.

"Oh, would you shut up?!" Sasuke nearly punched Naruto while shouting, but his fist connected to the wall behind Naruto. He must have purposely missed. But seeing Sasuke's utterly troubled face caused the irrational part of Naruto snort, obviously making the raven angrier (and probably more confused) at their state of affairs.

"You…!" Sasuke stretched Naruto's bruised cheek without mercy while Naruto wailed in pain at the rough treatment of his fresh wound.

"Bastard! That freaking HURTS, you-asshole!"

"Stop laughing or I'm going to do more than just that!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! It's gonna teaaaaar!"

After much pinching and pulling and generally trying to cause much pain with minimal damage to each other, they separated while wheezing heavily, their clothes disheveled and disarrayed from their struggles.

"Shit…! I'm hurting allover…!" Naruto muttered before Sasuke growled and grumbled at him that it was his line and not Naruto's to say.

Naruto couldn't help chuckling again as he recalled Sasuke's hesitant, flushing face earlier. Even though he was still hell suspicious of Sasuke's motive in defending him or _touching_ him, he couldn't help appreciating Sasuke's attitude.

 _Who knows he can look so adorable like that?_ —Naruto certainly didn't.

"I'll revise my opinion about you, Sasuke," Naruto commented as he turned around. "You're cool. A leader position suits you pretty well and… thank you for defending me just now." He said the last part of his words in a soft whisper, not knowing if Sasuke caught them.

Well, from the way Sasuke widened his eyes in surprise when Naruto turned to face him once more, he knew Sasuke heard him just fine. "See you later!" Naruto threw him a foxy grin as he decided to run back to class.

 _Damn! Sasuke's stunned look isn't bad at all!_ —Naruto was pleased that he could make Sasuke wear such expression. Oh, he was suddenly excited, and hoped that he could see more of them later.

**#**

_Naruto…._

Sasuke was forced to stare at Naruto's back until the blond was gone from his sight at the corridor junction. Then he lowered his gaze at his right hand and his thumb, remembering the sensation when the tip of his finger made contact with Naruto's tender skin. He smiled softly. "I think…he's not so bad…" Sasuke spoke modestly before he slipped his hands in his pockets and started to walk back to his own class, mask of expressionless back in his face.

Sasuke had some paperwork to do regarding the problem caused by Neji, but it could wait until later. For the mean time, he would mull over why he felt really weird when he was with Naruto earlier.

_Family or not, it was still pretty strange, but… if this is a sign about something else, I need to figure it out fast. I can't afford to act stupid or clueless about something like 'this' after all…._

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

_Oh God…, why am I so embarrassed over such simple words?!_ —Naruto was berating himself inwardly when he ran back to his classroom. Somehow, he felt his face heating so much that it had to be colored crimson now. He honestly didn't understand what the cause of his discomfort was. But he did know one thing. Sasuke's antics bothered him to the extent that he couldn't take it anymore since he had never felt something like this before.

 _Earlier, when his hand touched my lips and his eyes stared at mine like that… I thought he was about to kiss me…!_ —Naruto's temperature increased significantly at the ridiculous thought. Of course Naruto knew it was _nuts_ to think like that becausethere was no way in hell Sasuke would do something like that. It was almost like Naruto was the one _hoping_ that such thing was the case and he gagged at the dumb thought.

 _I must have been insane. I have to check my head out!_ —Naruto was officially bewildered with his own feeling now. It was like _something_ was actually happening between them, but he wasn't sure what.

Naruto stopped his run when he arrived back in front of his class. He was still panting before leaning his forehead on the door. "Calm down, Naruto…. Don't lose your poise in front of your subordinates. Remember when _mom_ taught you…." Naruto mumbled quietly, as if it was a spell to cool his raging thought and confusion. He needed to regain his self control before facing his friends again. Breathing exercise always did that best. He inhaled deeply and released it slowly before he opened his eyes, determination in his gaze. "Yosh!" he exclaimed confidently as he opened the door of his class again.

"NARUTOOOOOOO!" Immediately, his classmates surrounded him and bombarded him with questions in various looking expressions.

 _WHOOOAAAAAAAA!_ —Naruto was really surprised and felt cornered suddenly.

"What the hell was that!?"

"Since when have you become together with that prick!?"

"Is it true you're the ice prince lover!?"

"No way! Naru-chan! You said you're straight!"

"Even if I found you fiiiirst!"

"Kyaaaaa! You're so frigging cute together!"

"I want your photograph together with him!"

"Want to be model characters on yaoi doujinshi!?"

"Have you guys kissed yet!?"

 _What the hell's going on!?_ —Naruto was dizzy so suddenly, finding himself barraged with such absurd questions and issues.

"SHUT UUUUUUP!" Naruto roared in desperate attempt to shut their nonsense and free himself from the bizarre crowd. "Damn it! There's nothing between me and Sasuke! He was doing his duty as a leader of West Building!" he shouted more in addition.

There was a moment of pregnant silence before everyone in the class blinked and stared at him weirdly.

"Why don't you just admit that you're _together_?" Temari was the one that broke the silence, with a knowing grin on her face. The other girls (especially her loyal subordinates) squealed slightly, their eyes sparkling in a way that cause Naruto to pale, totally crept out.

"I'm _NOT_ together with _anyone_!" Naruto _had to_ deny it fiercely, because he could see the tell-tale of _crazy_ fan girls in their behavior.

"Ooh? But you're so cute together," Temari's smirk widened slightly, her tone teasing, embarrassing Naruto even more.

"Hell no! Damn it, Temari! I'M STRAIGHT!" Naruto yelled, throwing tantrum at her in frustration.

"Stop mocking him, Temari," Gaara huffed, throwing a slight glare at his sister, causing Temari to raise her hands in surrender, but not before the older blond laughed loudly.

"But, it's so fun teasing him! He's so adorable when he is embarrassed like that!" Temari continued, not bothering to stop laughing, and shaking her head as her followers giggled in agreement. Naruto growled at them, fuming.

 _Damn it! I wish there was a hole to bury me alive!—_ Naruto couldn't help thinking while trying to ignore the laughter that exploded in his class at his expense. _It's entirely that Sasuke's fault!_

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

" _Naruto…" Sasuke took Naruto's hand and kissed the back of his palm passionately. "I actually… have always kept this feeling for you since we met for the first time." Dark onyx orbs gazed lovingly at Naruto's baby blue, deep and enticing._

" _Sa-Sasuke…" Naruto couldn't move when Sasuke slipped his other hand to hold Naruto's slender waist._

" _I… to you…" Sasuke didn't loosen his hold, even tightening it, and then leaned his face into Naruto's. "I love you…" he whispered those words so softly and fervently before he closed their small distance with a butterfly kiss on Naruto's lips._

" _Sasuke…" Naruto closed his glazed eyes and melted in Sasuke's tender kiss. They kissed for awhile before Sasuke released his kiss. "I…" Naruto opened his eyes only to get captured with those alluring black eyes again. "I…actually…have the same feelings for you…" he replied shyly, his cheeks burnt in rosy color._

" _Then… I will not hold back," Sasuke whispered in Naruto's ear, causing the blond to moan and once again, he leaned to bestow another kiss to Naruto's lips. This time was deeper, tongues swiping and sneaking inside each other's mouth, both groaning in pleasure and bliss._

" _Ah…! Wa-wait, Sasuke. What if someone comes…?" Naruto tried to push Sasuke away, his glassy eyes darting to the unlocked classroom door nervously. However, his voice was breathy and seductive, while he bit his lower lip sexily, turning Sasuke on even more._

" _Are you trying to stop me or…tempt me even more?" Sasuke smirked teasingly before engulfing Naruto's lips again in another intense French-kiss. Naruto moaned gutturally as Sasuke's hand slipped under his uniform, touching his heated skin._

" _Mmn, ah, wait…! Sasuke…, aah—!" Naruto groaned in delight again as Sasuke moved his open mouthed kisses to Naruto's jaw and neck. Then he sucked the sensitive skin, just above his jugular vein hard, marking him. His hand got sneaky and adventurous, caressing him insistently and soon, he moved near Naruto's hard-….!?_

…

…

…

… _RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!_

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!?" Naruto screamed so loudly while shredding a certain book on his deathly grip in mortified red flushing face, completely enraged and embarrassed.

"AAAAAH! My limited full-color edition Sasu/Naru yaoi doujinshiii!" Temari wailed in horror as she saw Naruto destroy her precious book inhumanely.

"TE—MA—RI—!" Naruto threw the blond girl a deadly glare while cracking his knuckles dangerously.

Temari didn't seem to pay attention as she kept sobbing over the torn papers, apparently so very _sad_ and sorry for her poor _doujinshi_ (1) book. "My doujinshi—! Damn it, Naruto! You don't have to rip my precious book apart like that, you-bastard!" Temari yelled at him angrily with tears in her eyes.

"I'm the one who should get angry, damn it! What the hell was that book!? Why were there pictures of me and Sasuke doing—!? AAAAAARGH!" Naruto was roaring in aggravation as he couldn't bring himself to say ' _doing naughty things_ ' together, well.

"That book is called a _doujinshi_!" Suddenly someone exclaimed, answering Naruto's manic question. Naruto turned aside to face her, an _otaku_ looking girl with raven hair tied into two identical pigtails, and a pair of thick glasses. She wore black sailor uniform and she made a 'peace' sign with her fingers when she stood proudly in front of Naruto who stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Wha—?!" Naruto gaped. Where did she come from?

"It's a book drawn by fans for other fans to make original story with characters that they picked from _manga_ , anime, or drama, or real people like you! Since the topic of ' _rumor about Sasu/Naru relationship_ ' has been extremely HOT these days, Konoha Academy Doujinshi Club decided to draw this doujinshi and copy it limitedly. Thus we sold it with high price for someone such as Temari-san who has desire to see their favorite characters together!" the girl explained with spirit burning in her eyes.

 _What the hell with this girl—!? Is she even sane!?_ — Naruto's face faulted at hearing such ridiculous enlightenment.

Though, after a few seconds of silence in registering the information, Naruto realized and snapped. "AAAH! It's _**YOU**_! You were the one spreading the stupid bizarre rumor through your stupid crazy drawing inside this stupid disgusting book! How dare you!" he pointed at her accusingly, yelling precariously.

"Yeah, that's totally true! You two are too _**HOT**_ to be left single! I'm so proud of my MASTER PIECE!" the girl didn't even have the decency to get embarrassed after confessing her deed, even shouting while squealing enthusiastically.

"MASTER PIECE MY ASS! The fuck do you think you're doing, you-shitty _OTAKU_!?" Naruto bellowed deafeningly, totally enraged at the girl who had the guts to actually ignore him ( _that bitch_!) as she hurriedly ran towards Temari who was still sniffling while holding her poor ruined book, and comforted her.

"Don't worry, Temari-san. Especially for you, I can make more copies! And our new release will be up soon!" the otaku ensured, spirit of rotten girl still in burning her eyes.

"Really? Luna-chan you're my _heroine_!" Temari's face brightened so much Naruto thought he looked at sunshine directly, before she suddenly stood up and shouted. "Alright, girls! Let's buy the new release of Sasu/Naru yaou doujinshi from as well!"

All the _fujoshi_ (read = the rotten brained girls, in equal, Temari's loyal followers) instantly squealed in hysterical scream, causing Naruto to fall down from the sheer volume alone.

 _WHAAAT!?_ —Naruto dropped his jaw unceremoniously, totally shocked, and couldn't believe his eyes as he saw almost all the girls stood and ran around to follow Temari like bees following their queen.

"You TRAITOR!I'm your current boss, damn it! _ **"**_ Naruto couldn't help screaming again in horror, totally horrified at the insanity level of the girls in his class… _no,_ the entire East Building. Everyone had gone nuts and it freaked him out very much that they could even think about him and Sasuke in such compromising relationship.

 _Shouldn't they try to murder me over this?_ —Naruto really didn't understand how their rotten brains worked after all.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru grunted and rolled his eyes, looking extremely bored despite the uproar before he went back to sleep on his desk. Alright, so Naruto woke him with his first scream, big deal.

"Gyahahaha, what a mess!" Kiba of course just laughed his ass off seeing Naruto's preposterous predicament.

"…poor bastard," Gaara didn't know what else to say, but there must have been a tinge of sympathy in his pale green eyes as he shook his head slightly, sighing at the antics around him.

 _You guys are the most traitorous ones! Those bastards...!_ —Naruto gritted his teeth, clenching his trembling fists.

"It's definitely entirely that-Sasuke BASTARD'S fault!" Naruto screamed (once again) and ran away from his own class, his face bright red and burning from embarrassment mixed with anger.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

In his Student Council office, Sasuke was also reading the _said_ book. He got that suspicious book from Shino who confiscated _them_ from some girls that belonged in Doujinshi club (because in West Building it violated the rule, remember? Shino was Executive Committee, so he had to do it).

Sasuke recalled that almost all the extracurricular clubs in Konoha Academy was dominated by the whites, but there were also some clubs in which the whites and the blacks mingled together, like the Archery Club, the Boxing Club, the Handy Craft Club and the weirdest club that had ever existed in Konoha Academy history, the Doujinshi Club. Actually, the Doujinshi Club was an extension of the Classic Literature Club. No wonder the school approved such bizarre existence of an extracurricular activity.

Sasuke's eyes were still stuck on the drawing inside the ludicrous book, his face expressionless not to alert Shino and Neji who were in the same room as him. After he finished the book, he closed it slowly as he closed his eyes as well. "Hn, what a useless object," he threw the book into the trash bin. Shino raised his brow in awe, so did Neji for Sasuke's coolness in dealing with the creepy content of the book.

A few minutes later, Sasuke stood and walked to the door.

"Where are you going, Sasuke?" Neji asked slowly.

"Rest room," Sasuke answered without looking back as he walked out of the student council room to the rest room down the hall. Along the way, he could feel many gazes fixed on him. Some guys were whispering and some girls were even giggling when he passed them. Sasuke increased his speed and hurriedly entered the toilet as he slammed the door shut loudly, surprising the other students in the vicinity. After he checked that no one was near him, the delayed reaction took place as he blushed madly, his face the epitome of tomato in color.

 _UWAAAAAAAAAA! What the hell was that book!?_ —yes, everyone, the super cool Uchiha Sasuke was freaking out on the inside. Granted he needed to _hide_ first before letting his inner feeling exploded in his facial expression because he had a name and reputation and of course _pride_ to maintain. There was no way in hell he would so openly panic where people could see him without his infamous mask and glare in its place.

Sasuke was very and he meant, _extremely_ , embarrassed with all the provocative pictures and the uncanny words scattered inside that nasty book. He remembered the drawing of him and Naruto doing 'things', _this_ and _that_ and _many more_ ….

 _Waaaaa! Waaaaa! Waaaaa!_ —Sasuke covered his face shamefully. He really didn't want to remember that. He desperately tried his best not to recall all those pictures, damn it! Bu-but… it was honestly too difficult when he kept thinking about that blond boy with his beautiful blue eyes and his soft kissable pink lips….

 _AAAAAAAAARGH! I'm turning into a PERVERT!_ —Sasuke was screaming bloody murder in his head, berating himself mentally, but it didn't seem to work to clear his mind from the gutter, so he banged his head to the wall repeatedly. _I am definitely sick! An incurable disease!_

…

…

 _NOOOOOO! I'm STRAIGHT, damn it!_ —Alright, so Sasuke was still freaking out. He didn't know why he was so bothered by this, but he sure as hell would convince his own mind not to fall into the trap of some demons (read = his hidden desires) because for fuck sake, he must have been crazy if he actually found Naruto attractive.

Unfortunately, Sasuke did. _CRAP!_

"Damn it! It's entirely that stupid-PERVERTED Kakashi's faults!" Sasuke couldn't take it anymore and shouted in vexation. Kakashi's words some days before, about him _denying something_ , wormed its poisonous way into Sasuke's head. Yeah, Sasuke thought about _that_ profoundly after the incident of him unconsciously touching Naruto's bottom lip and the surface of _his_ desire to kiss the blonde.

_WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!?_

Poor Sasuke… He might have reached the limit of his sanity.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"I'm home…" Naruto greeted weakly as he entered his house.

"Welcome home, Naru-chan," Mikoto welcomed him with a cheery smile, but soon, she felt concerned of Naruto's feeble condition. "Oh my, Naru-chan, you look tired. Did something happen?" she frowned slightly.

"It's nothing, Mom. Well, something happened but…it's a youngster case," Naruto whined while sighing deeply.

"What do you mean by youngster's case?" Mikoto asked, still with her smile, but her eyebrow twitched slightly at the implication. "Are you telling me that I'm _**old**_ now, Naru-chan?" Really, the nerve of a kid.

"I'm not saying that, Mom…" A bead of sweat broke out of Naruto's cheek. He sounded and looked nervous as he seemed to realize that he had offended her in a way.

"Then, it's totally alright to tell me, right?" Mikoto insisted, asking with light voice again.

"Well…" Naruto fidgeted, looking slightly uncomfortable under Mikoto's prying gaze. He opened his mouth, apparently about to say something, but then closed it again, completely hesitant. "Oh, come on, Mom…, you know it's kind of boys' problem. It's embarrassing if I have to tell you…!" Naruto bleated with pleading tone, his puppy eyes in full work.

Mikoto almost squealed seeing the cute boy. She couldn't help coughing to cover her it. "Well, if you say so then…" she let out a resigned sigh, unable to resist Naruto's look.

"Then, I will take a shower first. Tell me if the dinner is ready," Naruto grinned sheepishly as he made a bee-line towards the stairs.

Mikoto chuckled seeing the awkward boy. Ah, Naruto was indeed very sweet. She hummed before she came back to her kitchen to continue her cooking. Today she would make Naruto's favorite dish. Ramen would be awesome, but she should prepare something healthy to complement it. Salad would be good. Fruit salad, since both she and Sasuke loved it.

As Mikoto worked her magic in the kitchen, five minutes into her cooking, she heard a series of clashes and rumbles outside the house. Curious, she opened the window and noticed the thunder adorning the darkened sky. Dark clouds had gathered around and soon the rain started to pour down.

 _Oh my… it's raining so suddenly_ —Mikoto hurriedly turned off the stove as ran outside the house to pick up her laundry and brought them inside before they could get wet. Soon enough, the pitter patter sound of rain turned heavily. Judging from how the wind blew, it seemed that there was going to be a storm as well.

"Where is Sasuke?" Mikoto was rather worried since her other son hadn't been home despite the time. She knew he was busy in student council, but he didn't even bring umbrella today. If he was rained down too much, he would get sick.

Though, her worry was for naught when she heard Sasuke's voice from the front door.

"Damn, it's suddenly raining very hard!" Sasuke exclaimed loudly as he shook his head and removed his white gakuran from his drenched body.

Being thoughtful, Mikoto immediately retrieved a warm towel and brought it to his son while greeting him. "Welcome home, Sasuke. Ah, you're wet, here's the towel," she greeted while offering the towel and Sasuke gratefully accepted it.

"Thanks, I am home, Mother," Sasuke greeted with a small puny smile, immediately drying his hair while Mikoto took care of his soaked blazer. Though, as a mother, Mikoto immediately realized that there was something wrong with her son.

"Sasuke, you don't look too well. What happened?" she was concerned. First it was Naruto and now Sasuke. Sheesh, what was wrong with boys and their teenager's angst?

"I'm fine, it's just student council project stressing me a bit…" Sasuke muttered lowly, not looking at Mikoto's eyes.

Mikoto raised her eyebrows slightly at the evasive answer. Well, the light blush on his cheeks was _saying_ something, but Mikoto honestly didn't understand Sasuke's way of thinking sometimes. It could probably be a romantic problem! Ah, her Sasuke was at that age already!

Mikoto giggled slightly at her thought, earning her a weird look from her boy whose losing color more than he already had. She covered her mouth and coughed once, trying to cover her amusement. "Oh, I see. Don't push yourself too hard, alright? Taking a rest once in awhile will help ease the fatigue. You look kind of pale, Sasuke," she smiled gently while ruffling Sasuke's damp hair. She'd like to kiss the boy's forehead too, but he was taller than her already. Sasuke would be annoyed if she fussed over him too much.

"Okay, Mother," Sasuke replied, a tiny appreciative smile adorning his beautiful face. "I'll take a hot shower first before napping then. Tell me if the dinner is ready," he continued as he proceeded to walk upstairs.

Mikoto nodded, smiling and waving her hand happily at Sasuke while watching his back tenderly. However then, she stilled as she realized something.

_Ah, I forgot to tell Sasuke that Naru-chan is using the bathroom now…._

…

Mikoto was silent for awhile before she shrugged, smiling once again care-freely.

 _Ah, well…I think brothers' taking a bath together is alright…._ —she nodded positively as she got back to her task in the kitchen.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke entered the bathroom slowly and closed the door quietly, almost without a sound. He used to doing that since he was a child, so he wouldn't bother other people in the house with unnecessarily loud slamming sound. Though, with the situation outside the house, which was storming by the way, he doubted that any weak sound from a bathroom could be heard by the others. So, without any hesitation, Sasuke removed all of his clothing and placed them in the laundry basket near the door.

Sasuke sighed slowly, and walked towards the curtained bathtub. When he was near enough from the shower, he could hear the pitter patter of water which was too close to be the sound of rain from the outside. Sasuke frowned slightly.

 _Huh, the shower is on? Someone must have forgotten to turn it off this morning. What a waste!_ —He hurriedly reached out and grabbed the dark colored plastic curtain before shoving it open.

Imagine how shocked Sasuke was when his naked eyes were met with an equally _naked_ Naruto whose back was facing him and was completely dripping from the warm shower. Though, as Sasuke could only widen his obsidian orbs, Naruto seemed to just realize of the raven's presence and turned around only to gape as Sasuke's shocked face entered his field of vision.

…

…

There was a brief pregnant silence when they just stared at each other's figure before—

" _ **GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**_ "

—yep, as expected, their horror filled screams echoed throughout the house….

**End of Chapter 4**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**Side Notes:**

**(1) _Doujinshi_ :** fan made book which uses characters from fandom (anime/manga/drama/real person)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, lovely readers. I'm sorry, this chapter is a bit short (compared to the previous one anyway), but, well…I indeed put some fan services even if it's just a teaser like a doujinshi inside a fanfic *lol* Also, happy fasting for all Moslem! I don't know why I even updated this before my other ongoing stories. Major writer's block SUCKS big time *sighs*. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this revised chapter as much as I had fun editing it. See you in next chapter! Jaa!


	6. Chapter 5: Realizing Something?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's still tingling feeling that bothers Sasuke... whenever he's close with his step brother...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another edit of this story. This time is chapter 5. Seriously, such monster chapter… *sighs* I hope it will also be better than the previous version. Saa, please enjoy the story.  
>  **Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto.**  
>  **Warning:** _foul language, hints of SasuNaru shounen ai, oOC-ness…_

  
**Chapter 5:** _**Realizing Something?** _   


* * *

Alright, everyone… let's start the story from the chaos that was issued the moment Uchiha Sasuke shoved the bath curtain and immediately fell victim to the erotic sight of Uzumaki Naruto in his wet, naked glory. Worse, Naruto seemed aware that someone had come to accompany his relaxed showering time by announcing his presence quite boldly, showing himself right in front of his clear sky blue eyes. Both boys, _of course_ , couldn't do a single damn thing to such unfortunate accident, except widening their eyes in utter shock and—

" _ **GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**_ "

—yep, screaming bloody murder in total mortification and horror.

Oh, and if they thought that it was the worst of it, they made a very _horribly_ HUGE mistake. Because then Sasuke _had to_ stumble abruptly to retrieve his towel and Naruto, apparently still having an enough decency to feel ashamed of his _nakedness_ (none even was sure it was a proper word, though—as if Naruto could think of something like that in his current predicament), instantly grabbed the shower curtain to cover his (at least) lower region. Also, curse the hard material of the curtain! That rough contact freaking HURT his skin!

Anyway, due to Naruto's uncontrollable fright and panicky, it seemed that he used too much strength in pulling the curtain, resulting in the fabric pulling the hanging as well and both were immediately ripped out of the wall since the hanging was installed to be easily coming off for easier cleaning purpose. Thus, by ill-fated accident on Naruto's part (and very lucky for all readers, _all presumed_ ), the blond slipped on the slippery grounding, lost his balance and—"WHOAAA!"–fell out of the tub, his head banging on the hard surface of the tile floor first, instantly knocked out cold.

"Oh, _shit_! Naruto!" Sasuke, who witnessed such calamity befalling to his step brother, instinctively shouted in concern, despite his lack of knowledge of why he felt the grip of fear so suddenly when he noticed that Naruto wasn't moving at all after the hard impact of the fall, even though he shouldn't have any concern whatsoever on the blond.

Well, Sasuke blamed it on his nature as human being. After all, Naruto was still a boy even though he was a major pain in the ass, and Sasuke was raised to be a proper citizen along with all his responsibility, so… anyway! Naruto still hadn't moved! _Did he hit his head that bad?_

"Oi, Naruto! Hang on, oi!" Sasuke approached the inert blond, kneeling to check more closely for life threatening injury like blunt force trauma to the head or something. If there was any, that is.

_After all, he did fall on his face first! Is he alright? Crap…!_ —Sasuke was slightly paling. What if the blow was too severe and Naruto was…?! He gulped, reaching his hand to the blond to confirm his suspicion, but his movement faltered before his hand could even make contact with Naruto's tan, moist skin.

_Ugh…! My great God… under this curtain he is…nude. Definitely nude!_

As blood began to rise on his face and color his cheeks slightly, Sasuke involuntarily felt much-much warmer at that tit bid of a fact. He froze, unable to move further. Even though he wanted to help Naruto as quickly as possible, _for first aid reason obviously_ , still… he couldn't bring himself to touch Naruto's bare skin. He didn't want to hear those little demons which began to whisper and conspire again inside his head against his will.

_He's unconscious, moron! It's your chance to touch him! You want to touch him, don't you? Look at that smooth, alabaster skin… Looks delicious, right? He must feel really soft and pliable as well…._

Sasuke could feel his mouth water at the fleeting, naughty thought before he realized what he was doing and—"AAAAAAARGH!" Sasuke howled, totally horrified and shocked, and- was that _frustration_ he was feeling right then? Dear god, he was turning into a horrible pervert! Stop those little demons! Anyone!

_It's because of that stupid book! No, no! It doesn't mean that I'm interested in him like 'that'! He's just NARUTO goddamn it! Shit! I only want to help him! Yes! I need to help him! That's the sole reason why I should touch him!_

Sasuke shook his head wildly, trying to convince himself that it would be okay, and in the end he steeled his determination to touch Naruto ( _just to help him!_ —his mind was still screaming). Sasuke shivered to some extent when his shaky fingers touched Naruto's velvet (still damp) skin.

_My God… his skin is indeed really soft…—_ well, despite Sasuke's futile effort to deny his 'curiosity', his mind couldn't exactly reject the fact that he _wanted_ to feel that.

Sasuke's eyebrows twitched, trying to hold down his embarrassment when he could barely block the 'burning' feeling inside his stomach. He felt his heart pounding so fast and hard inside his ribcage, causing such intricacy in breathing normally. He also tried his best not to blush; although with the way the air around him kept increasing in heat, it was nearly impossible to do so. Moreover, along with his speeding heartbeat, his pulse was skyrocketing, especially when he tried to move Naruto's body to lay on his back so as to get a good look on his injury.

Luckily, there seemed to be nothing to worry about aside the slight bump on Naruto's forehead. Sasuke sighed slightly in relief before he realized that his hand was still on Naruto's chest.

_Shit…! Why is he so damn warm?!–_ Honestly, Sasuke didn't know what to do with this situation (and his own brain for supplying him with such information). He just hoped that God would take a pity of him and help him keep his sanity in check. He really need to stay away from those nasty little demons, in case they tried to be a group of bastards and work on his hormone to act up at the feel of such glorious skin and the gorgeous view of the very attractive defenseless blonde before him right now.

_I'm positively mad if I begin to think that Naruto is attractive…! Seriously…!_ —Sasuke shut his eyes as he removed the curtain from Naruto's lower body, minding his privacy, and hastily switched the cover with another towel he had grabbed before approaching the unconscious blond. After that, he lifted Naruto's head carefully before putting it on top of his lap to examine the bruise on his forehead. "Damn it…! This… this total moron is really…!"

Sasuke grunted and grumbled, while frankly he wanted nothing but to yell and curse the stupid blond for his carelessness. Though, his string of complaints slowly died down when he could really open his eyes and see Naruto's sleeping face. Steadily, Sasuke widened his eyes in unexpected surprise.

_Like… a painting…._ —Sasuke unconsciously thought, unabashedly admiring Naruto's docile feature.

When his eyes were closed like this, Naruto's eyelashes seemed to lengthen. Well, not as long as Sasuke's, but they were indeed longer compared to guys' in general. Oh, and surprisingly, when he was quiet like this and didn't generally make a fool of himself, Naruto was kind of handsome, his jaw actually squarer than Sasuke's, looking rather masculine, but not too much since there was slender quality too. And those whiskers-like scars on his cheeks… Sasuke didn't know where Naruto got them from, but they didn't look bad at all. Somehow, they added the adorableness in Naruto's feature, and… _damn those full, soft, kissable pink lips!_ Naruto looked like a cute cat… or a fox, which caused Sasuke to suddenly wonder why he even took his time to asses Naruto's feature instead of checking if he was really alright.

_Crap! I forgot!_ —Sasuke was berating himself inwardly for getting too distracted by Naruto's look. Had he lost his mind? He already had too many ridiculous macho show-downs with Naruto and not even once did he think beforehand that Naruto was attractive. Well, at those times he was busy punching the life out of him to actually observe, but he had decided from day one that he wouldn't get too involved with the blond troublemaker, especially when he so pretentiously wore that black Gakuran without care of what people thought of him.

Sasuke frowned. _That's right. Naruto was supposed to be that kind of guy, but…_

" _Senpai, you may insult me as much as you want, but I won't stay put doing nothing if you insult my friends!"_

Sasuke remembered how Naruto defended his subordinates from Neji's verbal attack. Even though he was a definite delinquent, it was also a fact that he cared about his friends just as much as Sasuke did his own. He often pulled pranks to the other white _gakuran_ wearers, but they were harmless… most of them. Well, they raised more laughter than grudge and resentment, after all. Besides, Naruto accepted detention every time the teachers scolded him for his wrong-doing. Oh, and let's not forget that Tsunade was fond of Naruto as well.

" _I'm fine, and it's enough for me if you show your determination as a leader! Somehow…it looks cool! I like it!"_

Sasuke couldn't help feeling his face heating again as he remembered how Naruto grinned happily at him that time. Yeah, that was a fact that he couldn't deny anymore. That time Naruto also looked eye-catching and fascinating. Not as much as right at this moment (since Sasuke could stare as hard has he could without raising alarm because there was no one but him and Naruto in that place and the blond was still out cold), but Sasuke was indeed _interested_ when he saw that huge sunny smile. The blond boy really was capable of becoming an attractive guy with such wild appearance, and apparently it worked perfectly fine for attracting other guys.

_That was totally embarrassing! Seriously, embarrassing!_ —Sasuke felt like crying for real now, because no matter what, he still didn't want to admit such confusing complicated feeling that was screwing with his mind.

In the end, Sasuke could only sigh deeply, his cheeks still heating. "We-well, for now I think I should bring him to his room…" he mumbled quietly, still somewhat self-conscious and maybe a bit surprised by the new feeling he found for the blonde inside him. However, he also realized that he would only waste the time for too much dwelling on things he couldn't really understand. So for now, he would leave that matter alone in the back of his brain while he helped his step brother.

Just as Sasuke was about to move after calming himself down, he jerked in shock when he realized that in order to move Naruto to his room, he was required to 'carry' Naruto, which meant… 'bridal style' or 'piggy back'. Sasuke paled (again) for awhile now, before abruptly flushing furiously at the thought that entailed such compromising positions. Both were ultimately humiliating in their own ways, especially when there was a need to make skin-to-skin contact with each other.

_God absolutely hates me today…!—_ Sasuke was crying inwardly. Yep, he was, really even though outside, there were only his veins throbbing and resurfacing on his face and temples.

Sasuke heaved out a deep suffering sigh then, once again steeling his heart and mind to slip his hand on the back of Naruto's neck, while his other hand wormed its way under Naruto's knees. He decided that bridal style was easier anyway. He was just about to lift Naruto when unexpectedly, the bathroom door was opened and—

"Sasuke, Naru-chan! What happened?!" Mikoto's concerned shouting was heard, along with her grand entrance, barging in the bathroom in panic, startling Sasuke stone-cold. Thus, she saw Sasuke who was currently holding Naruto in his arms, both still practically half naked. Sasuke turned his face aside to find Mikoto staring blankly at his and Naruto's suggestive position.

…

…

There was a really long pregnant silence before Mikoto blinked and said, "Oh my… that's a very cute position you have there!" She sounded completely excited, and she was blushing prettily while holding her pink cheeks, causing Sasuke to skid and collapse on the floor comically, face faulting and sweat dropping. "I didn't know that you and Naru-chan are that close, Sasuke. Ah, camera! I need to preserve this endearing moment in photograph!" the beautiful raven haired woman exclaimed before she ran from the spot.

"What the fu—! Oh, God, wait a minute! Mother?!" Sasuke instantly sat up shrieking in alarm of what his mother just implied with such suspicious reaction, seriously mortified and horrified at that misleading assumption. "It's not what it looks like!" Trust him, Sasuke desperately wanted to explain, but Mikoto didn't seem too inclined on hearing any excuse as she came back many seconds later with a digital camera on her hand.

"No worries, Sasuke. Even if you-boys are brothers, you aren't tied by blood, so it's fine! Aww, it really is cute! Maybe I should tell Arashi about this…!" Mikoto giggled heartily before snapping a picture, to Sasuke's utter horror because— did she just tell him she would notify his new father that her son was trying to molest Naruto in the bathroom?

"Wha-what—?!" of course the raven haired half-nude boy paled severely. "MOTHER! Please LISTEN to people when they are TALKING to you!" Sasuke screeched in total aggravation, feeling his face flush and most probably color beet red like his favorite dish, tomato, in insane level of shame and infuriation, while Mikoto seemed to completely ignore his yelling while she kept busily clicking the shutter again and again, still _thoroughly_ chuckling in amusement.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke was twitching uncomfortably on his seat at the dinner table, his face still red albeit not as much as Naruto, who was completely blushing madly. No, that was an understatement. He was officially _steaming_ on his own seat beside Sasuke, while their parents were chattering happily, entirely drowned in their own animated discussion.

_God, that was so humiliating…! I actually fainted in front of Sasuke in that condition… naked…! GYAAAAAAA!_ —Naruto was mortified, unable to help himself but scream hysterically in his head while banging it literally on the table, apparently surprising both his parents and even Sasuke in the process.

"Na-Naru-chan, are you alright?" Mikoto asked in concern, a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek.

"I'm _not_ alright at all—!" Naruto moaned, or more like whimpering even though he wouldn't admit that he did such girly gesture. He couldn't help it if he was shaken up and his voice sounded a bit quivering. He sure felt like about to cry in disgrace when he recalled the previous event, when he regained consciousness in his room while Sasuke was still carrying him, also _half naked_. Because of the surprise and panicky for suddenly being in such unbelievably close proximity with his mortal rival, Naruto's conditioned response was to struggle, resulting in startling Sasuke as well in the process and ended up making both of teens fall down with his towel loosening from his waist to give that damn dark haired pervert an exclusive view of Naruto's private area.

That trickle of nosebleed from Sasuke afterwards was frankly hilarious _if_ Naruto wasn't the victim of this situation, but it could be because he had slammed his palm on Sasuke's face unnecessarily _hard_ to prevent the raven from seeing too much.

_Damn it! It's entirely that doujinshi or whatever book fault! Damn that stupid perverted book and damn those stupid rotten fan girls who drew, published, read, and bought it!—_ Naruto cursed inwardly. Shit, he was so humiliated…. He really was embarrassed he could die! At this moment he wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole so he wouldn't have to deal with this thwarting feeling.

" _Maa, maa,_ it's alright, isn't it? It was just _an accident_. You're both guys, so it means nothing," Arashi, as carefree as always, said in cheery voice before he chuckled, obviously amused, seeing both Naruto and Sasuke apparently turn a darker shed of red.

_Dad's such an airhead! That stupid father!_ —Naruto cursed some more, trying to hide his face from the world by drowning it in his arms.

"That's not the problem here!" Naruto slammed his fist on the table, frustrated and aggravated as he raised his face to glare at his dad defiantly, still feeling hot like a damn furnace.

"Naru-chan, and Sasuke too," Mikoto gave Sasuke a pointed look as he seemed about to react to Naruto's rude blow, "Please calm down. I only joked when I said you looked so good together despite being brothers," she giggled, still looking extraordinarily entertained at both step-brothers' expense.

"Mother, please…!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, still seeming to be exasperated at Mikoto's amusement.

"Alright! Let's stop this!" Arashi clapped his hands. "We should be more civil in dealing with such… _pft—_ sensitive subject," the father couldn't help cackling as Naruto glowered. Sasuke threw the blond a menacing scowl while Mikoto giggled some more. "Well, since it was a mishap, there's nothing we can do to fix it, so… just think that it never happened."

Such a fine solution, indeed; problem is, would Naruto or Sasuke _ever_ forget that it _never_ happened in the first place? Somehow, Naruto doubted that. He was convinced that Sasuke would use this against him someday. That bastard always played dirty when they—

_"I'm so sorry for Neji's rudeness. I will definitely punish him later, so if you don't mind, please release him without any harm."_

Naruto's train of thought halted when he remembered Sasuke's speech. That day, when Naruto decided that Sasuke wasn't as standoffish as he thought he had been.

_"And if you still felt dissatisfied to release him unharmed, I will take a responsibility of his action. You can punch me as much as you want."_

Even far from it, Sasuke was actually willing to get beaten up for his friend's sake…

A flash of image from the past entered Naruto's mind; faces of some people who were very dear to him….

" _We're willing to die if it's for you!"_

Naruto covered his face with his palm as a sharp pain struck his head, almost blinding him. It lasted only for a second, but it still gave him a migraine. "Let's just eat our dinner…" He sighed deeply in resignation, still embarrassed yes, but now it was mixed with weariness because his dad was right. Accident happened sometimes and there was nothing could be blamed on, except _maybe_ bad luck.

The others immediately agreed with the suggestion and said their prayer before starting their dinner.

**#**

Sasuke assessed the state of affairs quietly as the dinner progressed. Surely, he was irritated that both Arashi and Mikoto didn't take this problem seriously enough. Yet, he was also relieved that they didn't make it too big of a deal. He knew it was contradictory, but he just couldn't help it. Although this ' _attraction_ towards Naruto' issue was a HUGE predicament, at least for Sasuke's private thought, getting reassured that it wasn't his fault was rather nice. It could be worse after all… like if such possibility disgusted them and they would see him like a freak. Sasuke's birth-father would surely feel that way with all the expectation he had for him… like what happened _last time_.

Though, from the good mood flowering around both adults, Sasuke couldn't help feeling that _something_ was going to happen. Moreover, that _something_ brought such foreboding feeling for Sasuke. After all, both Arashi and Mikoto looked too _cheerful_ for their own good. Sasuke knew he was probably just being paranoid, but… his uneasiness was proven true when they got to eat the dessert.

"Ne, Sasuke, Naruto," Arashi started again. Sasuke and Naruto lifted their faces from their grape puddings to look at the older blond. "Actually… your mother and I have decided something… suddenly," he said with such a goofy smile and hesitant voice that Sasuke had to pale, while Naruto only tilted his head aside in a slight confusion.

"What?" Naruto asked with wide questioning eyes.

"Well, it's about the usual event after the wedding, you know…" Arashi blinked twice, giving them hints.

"Father… what are you trying to say?" If Sasuke was pale before, it was nothing compared to right now because he was dreading the answer. He didn't really want to hear it since the consequence might freak him out.

Arashi seemed to catch Sasuke's anxiety as he gave him a rueful smile before he glanced at Mikoto meaningfully. The wife also caught the gaze and Sasuke's look of trepidation, thus nodded, smiling apologetically as well. "Uhm, both mother and father plan to go on a _Honey Moon_ to Okinawa for a week," she dropped the bomb.

…

…

There was that again, the brief pregnant silence as both Sasuke and Naruto tried to register her words before— "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?"–yes, they screamed freakily in unison, much shocked like the first time they heard their single parent decide to marry each other.

"You will go on a honey moon?!" Sasuke knew it was unavoidable event, but he just _couldn't_ suppress the feeling of being betrayed by his mother for… for this!

"A-and for a week?!" Naruto followed, disbelief written all over his face.

Arashi and Mikoto nodded positively, maintaining their smile. Sasuke sighed in defeat while Naruto made a protesting noise beside him.

_Why of why have they never included us in their 'talk' before deciding something?!_ —Sasuke face palmed morosely as Naruto continued his complaint.

"Then you'll leave me alone for a week?!"

"What are you saying, Naruto? You're not alone. Sasuke will be with you the whole time, right?" Arashi replied, his smile never faltering.

Sasuke snapped at that. _That's even worse!_ —he couldn't help thinking as Naruto seemed to believe in the same idea. After what happened in the bathroom and in Naruto's room… how could they be _alone_ , just the two of them, for a freaking week?!

"What about food and housekeeping?" Sasuke tried to bargain. He just couldn't deal with Naruto if they were unaccompanied! They would kill each other!

_Or worse—_ the little devil in Sasuke's mind sang-song while snickering at the thought of Sasuke and Naruto, jumping each other for a very different reason and in a very different situation. _Daaaamn!_ —he acutely hated himself and the devil for even remotely thinking about THAT in such crisis.

"No worries. Arashi confirmed that Naru-chan is very good at cooking, so I'll leave that to your care, Naru-chan," Mikoto winked at Naruto while smiling in admiration. "Naru-chan is also great at chores. Isn't that awesome?" she actually squealed before she hugged the blond boy fondly, causing Naruto to flush in embarrassment.

"Dad…!" Naruto threw an accusing glare at his father who just looked the other way, sweating slightly.

_What the…?!—_ Sasuke eyed Naruto disbelievingly, gaping slightly at the newfound fact. _He's good at cooking and chores?! That good for nothing delinquent?!_ —he just couldn't help staring. Naruto seemed aware of Sasuke's gaze when he immediately snapped in another rebellious dissent.

"Wait a damn second! Why must _I_ do the cooking and cleaning?! That's just NOT fair!"

"Don't be like that, Naru-chan… Do you in fact hate house work that much…?" Mikoto looked at Naruto with wide, pleading teary dark eyes that apparently sent Naruto into a guilt trip instantly with the way the blond cringed.

"E-eh? It-…it's not that I hate them… but, someone like me… with housework…?!" Naruto's gaze was everywhere but her eyes, apparently trying his hardest to avoid the uninvited feeling, but Sasuke completely saw his resolve waver. After all, his mother was a pro in making any guy do what she wanted with that face of hers. It wouldn't take much effort on her part to make Naruto bend on her will.

"But, really, Naruto is awfully good at keeping the house clean and taking care of the food when we lived only just the two of us. He can be a really good _wife_ ," Arashi laughed heartily at the joke, causing Naruto's face to blow in crimson color for real now, as he sent such fierce look at his father as if screaming _'You-traitor!'_ at him.

_Father can be such a sadist too, apparently_ —Sasuke couldn't help pitying his step brother because there must have been no greater humiliation than being called a _woman_ , especially for a gang leader like Naruto. Normally, Sasuke would turn that information into ammunition to rile Naruto up, but… if he would be alone with the blond for a week and the said blond would be taking care of his food the whole time, he'd rather not get poisoned by him just because Sasuke tried to question his manliness.

Besides, the opinion that a guy should never touch kitchen and house work was an ancient saying, and Sasuke was _not_ ancient despite Uchiha family's teaching. He actually thought that it was pretty cool for a guy to take care of himself and other people. Though, the way Naruto glared at him indicated that the blond was getting the wrong idea of his silent stare.

"What?" Naruto snapped at him defensively, his face still pink. "I dare you to laugh, Sasuke-bastard!"

Well, the fact that Naruto was still obnoxiously annoying dismayed Sasuke even though he wasn't about to insult him for his unexpected skill. "Why do I have to listen to your whining?" he grumbled, feigning boredom.

"What did you say?!" Naruto seemed furious at Sasuke's indifference. Seriously, what did Naruto want from him then? A good laugh? He decided to just ignore the blond while Naruto was bristling for being disregarded.

"So…" Mikoto got in between Sasuke and Naruto again before they could start another insult-war, staring hopefully and expectantly at the blond boy. "Naru-chan will help me with this, right? You will take care of the house and Sasuke for mom and dad, won't you?"

Naruto twitched, only able to resist her plea for a couple of minutes before he let out a deep sigh in resignation. Hook, line and sinker, indeed Mikoto was the epitome of natural forces that couldn't be denied. "Alright, but if Sasuke complains about the food, I'll let him starve," he huffed, still looking very reluctant, but at least the mutinous sign was gone.

_I can always eat out, you idiot!_ —Sasuke wanted to retort, but he caught Mikoto's warning gaze and he really didn't want to ruin her happiness, so he just harrumphed while closing his eyes.

"Alright! It's decided! We will depart tomorrow!" Arashi closed the discussion with a slap to his own upper thighs and a joyful cheer.

"Aaah, I can't wait to enjoy Okinawa's beach in late spring, together with my darling~! I'll prepare the clothes and everything first!" Mikoto immediately stood and skipped to her and Arashi's room with happy smile on her face, clearly showing her eagerness.

"Wait, Mikoto, honey~ I want to help out~," Arashi instantly made a bee line to follow his beloved wife to their room.

Seeing their parents' antics, Sasuke and Naruto's face faulted. _Stupid parents_ —and obviously, they thought about the same thing again.

A few seconds later, Naruto raised his hand to cover his forehead with his palm. He looked somewhat dazed. "It's… the worst day in my life…!" he sighed, whining, and then dropped his head on the table again, making a loud thumping sound as his forehead made contact with the hard, wooden surface.

_Tell me about it…—_ Sasuke rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything except making a 'hn' response at Naruto, while inwardly his head projected an idea that this might be a rare chance to know more about his blond haired step-brother better…

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

In Sunday morning, both Arashi and Mikoto had been already seated in the car, Arashi in the driver seat while Mikoto in the passenger seat beside him. All the necessary things had been packed in the backseat for their Honey Moon and both their children, Sasuke and Naruto, stood outside the car in strange, cloudy mood after helping the parents putting their suitcase in the baggage.

"Alright, keep the house safe and clean for a week!" Arashi snuck his head out of the open window and grinned at both teens, especially Naruto who would mostly do all the work for that.

Naruto settled with a sigh even though the urge to groan was very tempting. He just didn't want to disappoint his father, after all, so he nodded albeit very unenthusiastically.

"Take care of Naru-chan, Sasuke. Don't bicker too much every day. You have to help him keep our home," Mikoto smiled softly, but firmly at his son, showing her expectation elegantly.

"Hn." Sasuke didn't say anything except that, along with a curt nod a twitch of dissatisfaction on his right eye. Naruto was rather impressed how he could look so unwilling despite his mono-syllable answer and his stoic expression.

"Then…we're leaving! See you guys next week!" Arashi waved happily, followed by Mikoto who was said ' _bye-bye_ ' to her children before the car glided away on the street to reach their destination: the airport.

Sasuke and Naruto waved their hands back in faint smile as they said, "Be careful on the way…."

A few seconds after, the car had turned at the junction and now Sasuke and Naruto were the only ones standing in silence in front of their house… alone. Naruto dropped his hand, hanging listlessly beside his body, and then once again sighed feebly.

_What should I do now…?_

Naruto glanced at Sasuke who was unexpectedly staring at him as well with curious look. Naruto felt rather uncomfortable being scrutinized like that. "W-what?" Shit, why did he stutter? He was annoyed, damn it.

"I just didn't expect that someone like you could actually do housework," Sasuke's dark eyes never left Naruto's sky blue ones as he spoke. His expression was unreadable, but somehow, Naruto thought that Sasuke looked down on him too much since he barely knew anything about Naruto at all. He scowled.

"Don't just draw conclusion. Sometimes, desperate situation calls for desperate measure. Before our parents remarried, there were only dad and me in our house. Dad is totally clueless and useless when it comes to housework so liking it or not, I had to be the one to keep the house and to cook or we'd starve to death and live with mushrooms growing everywhere," Naruto didn't have to explain himself, but he just couldn't stand the thought of Sasuke thinking Naruto did all that because of a hobby. It was _not_.

Sasuke seemed to get the gist of how disgusting it would be if Naruto didn't act as the keeper in Arashi and Naruto's previous house as he paled, apparently imagining it. "I got it…." Why look at that. Even the stoic Sasuke could appear sick with his own thought.

Naruto chuckled slightly as he recalled how hard it was before for both Arashi and him… after leaving the main house. Naruto knew too little about cooking, so he bought some cooking books for dummies after Arashi's attempt at cooking which resulted in him almost blowing the whole kitchen. Then, he also had to endure the dust and dirt as he cleaned the house after Arashi tried once which turned into disaster since he kept breaking things and disarrayed the house even more. Naruto had to yell at him to keep still and never touch house work again. Finally, they had come to an agreement that Naruto would do everything to keep the house and feed them both while Arashi would make a living for both of them with his work. He remembered that Naruto and his dad were working so hard, just so they could live a relatively normal life despite only the two of them.

"Yah, at least we survive just fine even without the main house interfering…" Naruto yawned while stretching, unconsciously mumbling about something he shouldn't have mentioned if he wanted to keep his life at the main house a secret.

But, Sasuke didn't say anything about that if he had heard the mumble. He was still peculiarly staring when Naruto and he went back inside the house again. While Naruto was wandering in the living room, he noticed how _plain_ the house looked generally. It was clean and neat thanks to Mikoto, but…

"You know, this house need a little bit of personality," Naruto suddenly decided.

"Huh?" Sasuke looked genially confused.

"Personality! This house is boring like this! We need to give it personality!" Naruto grinned widely and Sasuke frowned at that.

"I'm pretty sure that a house is an inanimate object so _it_ doesn't have personality," Sasuke retorted dryly.

"You're wrong, Sasuke. A house is just _a house_ without personality. We, the residence, make it _a_ _home_ by giving it personality," now Naruto was smiling warmly. It was good that he still remembered how his father used to tell him about the difference between a house and a home. The main house might be their main house, but for Naruto and Arashi, it wasn't a home. Their home was the twenty _tatami_ apartment which both Arashi and Naruto had painted with their color of life.

Without caring if Sasuke had heard him or not, because strangely, the raven just blinked at him, looking rather astounded, Naruto headed to the kitchen to retrieve some supply from the closet. Sasuke called for him and asked, "What are you up to?" but Naruto didn't answer until he was back in the living room with a bucket of orange colored paint in one hand, a long brush and a roll of plastic in the other. He had put on an old white shirt and a pair of black shorts earlier, so he wasn't worried about getting them stained by the paint. He could always throw them away to buy the new ones.

Sasuke stared at Naruto's appearance in slack jaw for a few seconds before it seemed to click on him and— "Oh, no you are _NOT_ painting my house wall in orange!" Well, Sasuke was a one hell of perceptive bastard because he seemed to understand what Naruto was trying to do just by looking. Naruto could vouch for that.

"Sasuke, stop getting in my way," Naruto challenged, pointing the long brush at Sasuke while the raven hissed back at him.

"You've got to be kidding me! At least pick a more normal color!"

"What's wrong with orange?" Naruto was dumbfounded. What was Sasuke's problem anyway? Did he have something against orange?

"Orange is… orange is too obnoxious! It's annoying color!" For some reason, Sasuke's face turned rather pink as he reasoned.

"Wha—?! Don't dish my favorite color, you— _Teme_!" Naruto yelled back, totally annoyed.

"Shut up, _Dobe_! It's too bright and it hurts my eyes! Pick another color or don't even try at all!" Sasuke stood his ground, growling and scowling in full blast.

Naruto glowered at him in retaliation, but since Sasuke would most definitely try to stop him by force if he didn't reconsider, Naruto let him win this one fight. "Fine. What color do you want in the living room?"

Sasuke widened his eyes at the seemingly surprising question. "Ah, huh?" and he looked absolutely perplexed.

"Color, what do you want it to be?" Naruto clicked his teeth in annoyance because Sasuke was too slow. What was so fucking difficult in mentioning his favorite color? If the bastard said blue, he would splat his face with the orange paint.

Sasuke looked conflicted for a moment before "Yellow," he spoke slowly, looking the other way. "Creamy yellow is fine."

That was unexpected. Naruto was almost certain that he would say light blue or navy blue, but creamy yellow was closer to orange than blue. "Creamy yellow it is," Naruto nodded before going back to the kitchen to find paint in that color.

**#**

Sasuke covered his mouth as he looked down. Seriously… that Naruto was too much. What was wrong with orange, _really_? What kind of question was that?

_Obviously because that color reminds me of you like…a LOT. Bright and obnoxious… that color describes you in so many ways!_ —Sasuke couldn't help feeling his cheeks heating. This was getting ridiculous. Why would he feel this flustered about Naruto anyway? What was going on with himself?

"Sasuke, if you want to help, change your clothes! We're going to get dirty after all," Naruto's voice a few feet away from him startled him back from his train of thought. And when he registered what Naruto had said, his mind blew up at the innuendo.

_D-dirty… getting dirty like… dirty…_

"What the—?!" and if his face turned crimson, Sasuke would blame it on rage even though he didn't exactly feel enraged at that moment. "Who the hell said I'd help you at all?!" his voice was getting funny since it almost cracked. God, he should really stop before he got an aneurism.

"Fine by me if you want to do nothing; just stay out of my way then. A spoiled little master like you probably know nothing about painting anyway," Naruto shrugged and Sasuke couldn't help feeling pissed off at the way Naruto dismissed him like that. Nobody and he meant _nobody_ was allowed to dismiss Uchiha Sasuke without his consent. Well, although his last name already changed into Uzumaki, in public he was still an Uchiha anyway. And it didn't matter even though his family name was no longer Uchiha. He was still one of the Uchihas by blood.

"Oi, Naruto!" Sasuke stomped over to the blond who was trying to cover the floor with the plastic.

"What now?" Naruto seemed annoyed as he turned around to face him.

Sasuke scowled. "Don't you dare patronizing me, _Dobe_! I can paint the wall myself if I want to!" He made an attempt to snatch the long brush beside Naruto, but the blond quickly grabbed the said object and put it away from Sasuke's reach.

"Hey! Fetch your own brush, Sasuke! This one is mine!"

"Why don't you grab another brush, then?" Sasuke persisted because he just didn't want to lose in _any_ argument or fight against Naruto. The blond always frustrated him to no end after all. He at least wanted to feel some kind of satisfaction by stealing a score from Naruto if Sasuke would get provoked by him in daily basis.

"You lazy-ass, _Teme_! You only have to walk to the kitchen closet to bring out one! Jeez, seriously, Sasuke you—WHOA!?"

Well, apparently their supposedly harmless _banter_ wasn't as harmless as they thought it was when there was an opened bucket of paint around them and rumpled plastic strewn all over, because Naruto's foot tripped over the material, and in his attempt of balancing himself with the other foot, it hit the bucket down and as a result, the paint splashed on the floor and on both Naruto and Sasuke's feet.

Moreover, because of the surprise Sasuke and Naruto's staggered before their feet simultaneously slipped off on the now slippery floor, causing both teens to crash down together. It happened so fast that they could only yelp in reaction and then—

"Oww…!" Sasuke didn't know who was groaning in pain, but he could tell that his face hurt like hell because it hit the flat ceramic floor quite hard.

"Damn it, Sasuke…! You're heavy! Get off!"

Alright, at least that annoyed complaint explained the rather soft mattress that cushioned Sasuke's upper body from the impact with the hard ground. Sasuke slowly rose, trying to hold his weight with the both of his palms on the still slimy surface. What he didn't expect when he opened his eyes as he grimaced slightly at the throb on his face was the sight of Naruto's face, also contorting slightly in pain. The blonde too, gradually fluttered his azure colored eyes open while muttering achingly about his back hurting like a bitch before looking upward, his gaze falling straightly on Sasuke's dark onyx ones.

Sasuke's breath hitched at the very close-up view. He had never noticed how blue Naruto's eyes before. Well, he realized that it was blue, but looking at those glimmering orbs felt like he was drowning in the sea of aquamarines. It was so clear like the color of sky and yet so bottomless like the depth of the ocean. It was truly fascinating.

_It's beautiful…—_ Sasuke's subconscious mind couldn't help whistling its own opinion without Sasuke's sanction. Yet, at that moment Sasuke didn't give a damn. He didn't understand what was going on, but seeing Naruto so defenseless underneath him… staring back at him with such unreadable expression, set something off inside Sasuke. For some unfathomable reason, his heart began to pick up pace, thumping harder and faster, pounding on his ribcage as if it were trying to burst it open. Heat began to rise in the air and inside him, and—

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke couldn't hear the nervous, questioning whisper from the blond as his sight could only travel down slightly and zeroed on Naruto's moving lips. Such luscious, full, pink lips… How come a guy could have such alluring lips, he couldn't help wondering. They looked very soft and supple… if only he could feel those plump with his own… Sasuke's throat felt really dry so suddenly, and he couldn't resist the urge to gulp as he caught Naruto's mouth part slightly with his eyes, releasing extra warm breath that Sasuke could feel teasing his facial skin. A glimpse of something wet and red peeking out between those lips, swiping and gliding over the bottom part, moistening it, caused the string of sense in Sasuke's mind to snap.

"Naru-…" Sasuke was beyond reason by now, since he was 'this close' to annihilate that very small distance between him and Naruto that meant nothing and yet everything at the same time, without giving a fuck of what would happen because everything seemed 'right' at that moment and situation. He just couldn't deny that he wanted it so badly that he had to have it. Rational thought be damned.

Unfortunately though, the doorbell rang just five millimeter before Sasuke's lips could touch Naruto's and instantly, the (apparently) sacred trance was broken by Naruto blinking twice before—

"AAAAAAAAARGH!"

—yeah, another repeat of bloody murder scream escaped the blond as he seemed to realize what was about to happen. He immediately shoved Sasuke's body off him and looked very frantic when he scrambled as far away as possible from him, until his back slamming against the wall behind him. His face was in an interesting shade of red, the back of his palm nested in front of his mouth as if Naruto were trying to protect it, while his expression was very conflicted.

"Y-you…! Just now, were you about to—?!" Saying that Naruto was in surprise was probably an understatement judging from his shocked, mortified look. If Sasuke didn't know better, he even would call that look 'frightened'. Well, it was Naruto so he was probably just being too dramatic or something.

"Wrong!" Sasuke immediately denied because something was amiss with the way Naruto's face paled despite the crazy blush on his cheeks. Well, Sasuke needed to act fast, and explained what was going on for damage control. However, he wasn't sure what to say because he himself didn't know what he had been doing before. "You… it's your fault for being so careless, _Dobe_!"

"Haa?! What the hell, Sasuke!? How come it became my—?!" Naruto jerked, seeming to snap at realization. "You-bastard! You were the one who was about to kiss me! Looking from every aspect, it was totally your fault, _Teme_!" he shouted, pointing at Sasuke, looking absolutely incensed and appalled. Okay, he appeared to be more embarrassed rather than furious, but the anger was mixed in it, obviously.

"Ha! As if I wanted to kiss a total moron like you! Don't get the wrong idea, _Dobe_! I only wanted to look closer whether or not you were injured, you idiot!" Luckily, Sasuke could cover his own shame by acting offended by the accusation. Though, it was a close call because he himself was befuddled by his own perplexing action towards his step brother.

God, what was wrong with Sasuke?! Did he really…about Naruto…?! And what were these constant little accidents that kept happening when they were together, seriously? How many times had he and Naruto fallen on each others' body this week because of them? Was fate playing with them or were they born under the unlucky stars or something?!

"What did you say?!" Naruto raised his voice even more in retaliation and if the repetitive 'ding-dong' sound of the doorbell didn't persistently interrupt their heating verbal fight, it would surely escalate into physical feat.

"Aaaaaargh! How maddening! Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" Naruto shouted, sounding totally irked as he stood slowly, wincing slightly in the process, probably because of his stinging back. "This isn't over, Sasuke!" he pointed down at Sasuke who kept glaring at him in irritation as well, before the blond made a beeline to the front door leaving trail of yellow steps on the floor while silently muttering curses at the 'guests with their worst timing'.

Sasuke let out a long relieved sigh for being able to get out of that trying circumstance. He was grateful for the diversion even if it was just for now. More importantly, who the hell came to their house at such ungodly hour in Sunday morning anyway? Sasuke clicked his tongue as he also stood, eyeing his yellow feet before trying to remove some of the paint with the plastic. Giving up halfway because the paint was stubborn, he immediately followed Naruto to the front door. Naruto could clean the mess later because Sasuke would absolutely refuse helping him. It was his revenge for getting called a spoiled brat.

**#**

"Yeees, I'm here, sheesh!" Naruto fumed as he hurried to the door. Alright, he admitted that he actually appreciated the distraction because—

_What the FUCK?!_ —Naruto couldn't help cussing inside his mind. His face was still burning hotly in shame and bafflement. He wasn't an idiot and he knew perfectly well that Sasuke almost kissed him… on the lips. _But WHY?!_ —he didn't understand it one bit. He and Sasuke never got along before, so how the hell could _that thing_ almost happen?!

Before, the first time Naruto and Sasuke kissed, it happened because of an _accident_. But just then… when Naruto saw Sasuke's dark obsidian eyes focusing deeply on his own, Naruto just _knew_ that the raven was going to kiss him, and yet… he didn't do a single damned thing to stop him. Moreover, Naruto actually licked his lips as if… as if…!

_No FREAKING way!_ —Naruto shrieked inwardly in total horror. It sounded like he was _expecting_ such… such revolting development, right? _No, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening!? Get a grip, Uzumaki Naruto?! What the hell are you thinking!?_

Naruto shook his head brusquely, starting to panic all over again while his heart was still beating wildly. He was trying hard to calm himself down by pacing his breath. He couldn't face a guest with such scrambled mind. He had to calm down and think more clearly. He should just ignore that accident and pretend that nothing had happened at all!

_Right… ignore it!_ —Naruto convinced himself, closing his eyes and took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. After relatively calming down, he opened his eyes again. Alright, now he was ready. He had a guest to greet.

Naruto opened the front door slowly, "Yes?" and was completely taken aback when his sight was immediately greeted by a half-masked man with overly cheery attitude.

"Yo!" Hatake Kakashi was on Naruto's doorstep.

"Geh, Kakashi-sensei!?" Naruto couldn't help opening the door more broadly while pointing at the man, widening his eyes. It was a conditioned reaction after all. "What are you doing here?!"

"Is it bad if a teacher visits his student's house?" Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, deadpanned.

"But I'm not a student in your class!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I'm here for Sasuke, idiot," Kakashi huffed.

"Argh! How dare you insult your student like that! You—perverted teacher!" Naruto bristled angrily.

"Naruto, _language_ …!" Another familiar voice interrupted the argument as someone stepped out of Kakashi's back into Naruto's line of sight, a disapproving frown adorning his expression.

Naruto blinked once before registering the new addition. "Haaa! Iruka-sensei!? What are you doing here with Kakashi-sensei!?" He was seriously surprised seeing the taller brunet there as well.

"Since you're in the same house as Sasuke, we decided to come here together as a visiting activity," Iruka explained, still frowning, probably because Naruto didn't show any remorse for using bad language to speak with the silver haired teacher beside Iruka.

"Eeeh, but our parents aren't home today…" Naruto, in spite of knowing that he had annoyed his home-room teacher, refused to give in into his silent demand and apologize to Kakashi; after all, Kakashi had insulted him first.

"Eh?" Now, Iruka looked surprised. "So you're _**alone with**_ Sasuke today?" he put some stress on the latter words cryptically. Naruto only nodded at that, not knowing what was wrong with it.

"Only the _**two of you**_?" Kakashi followed suit, also looking surprised for some reason. And apparently, he wanted to make sure of something that Naruto didn't get.

Well, leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone without supervision would probably endanger both Sasuke and Naruto's lives because at some point they would want to put each other down in their respective grave. But Naruto knew better to try something so illegal. He didn't want to be jailed for murder anyway.

"Yeah, well… what's with that prying action?" Naruto couldn't help eyeing the both grownups oddly.

"Oh, nothing…" Kakashi shrugged. But Naruto could almost see the gleam of mirth in his visible eye. Naruto was bemused. But, before he could comment about his teacher's suspicious act, Iruka cut in.

"May we come in?" the brunet looked as friendly as usual now, his frown disappearing as if his mood changed drastically. Naruto wasn't sure about what just happened, but he guessed his teachers were just weird like that.

"Sure, please come in," Naruto sighed, stepping back from the door to let the couple in, just in time when Sasuke arrived there as well.

"Yo, Sasuke," Kakashi instantly greeted the raven with an invisible smile.

"Gee! Kakashi!?" Sasuke looked as shocked and dismayed as Naruto before.

"What's with that reaction? Sheesh…!" Kakashi seemed annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked in an uneasy tone while the silver haired math teacher grumbled about kids and their lack of manner.

"We're doing home-visit activity, Sasuke-kun," Iruka answered in Kakashi's place with a rueful smile, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

Sasuke moved his attention to Iruka in illegible expression before he bowed slightly, greeting him more calmly. "Iruka-sensei."

"Wait a second! What's with the difference in treatment?!" Kakashi protested, looking almost pouting.

"That's obviously because Iruka-sensei is more respectable than you, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto just stated the obvious, smirking mockingly.

"That's cruel…" Kakashi faked a hurt look, pretending to cry as he suddenly hugged the unsuspecting man beside him. "Iruka… our students are so mean to me—!" Iruka instantly blushed while Naruto (and probably Sasuke as well) gaped.

"Stop doing pervert things in MY HOUSE!" Naruto immediately shouted, totally ashamed and goaded at Kakashi's provocative act.

"Kakashi-sensei! You-idiot! Stop! Sasuke-kun is here!" Iruka also yelled in undertone, seeming to try to peel Kakashi off of his body. However, Kakashi's hold on him was apparently tightening.

"Too late. I think Sasuke has fainted," Kakashi commented dryly, pointing at Sasuke whose eyes already turned white, his face pale and like he said, already unconscious. "As expected from Uchiha, he can actually pass out in standing position!" the silver haired teacher laughed slightly at that.

"Sa-Sasuke?" Naruto's waved in front of Sasuke's frozen face, dumbfounded and sweating slightly.

_Oh yeah… he didn't know about Kakashi and Iruka. Oh, well…—_ Naruto shrugged. He guessed it was normal to be shocked, since Naruto almos exploded in anger the first time he knew. Sasuke actually took the news better than him.

Thus, he maneuvered the still traumatized Sasuke to sit on the sofa while in the background, Iruka was beating the shit of Kakashi for shocking their student with his careless action; of course the brunet was blushing madly because now he had two students knowing about their actual _relationship_.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Sensei, what do you want to drink?" Naruto asked in casual manner as he brought both Kakashi and Iruka to what Iruka thought was the family the guest room. He felt rather apologetic that they had to leave Sasuke on the sofa near the front door since no one wanted to wake him up and deal with him.

Though, it was rather surprising that Naruto could actually tend to his guests decently despite his track record. But, after much consideration, Iruka thought it was quite normal since the boy lived only with his father before. He was often home alone because his father was rarely at home for his work.

"Anything will do, Naruto," Iruka smiled fondly at Naruto who looked back at him before smiling as well.

"Then oolong tea is fine, right?" Naruto quickly disappeared to the kitchen while Iruka eyed his boyfriend who was still moaning in pain from the bumps on his head reproachfully. Not long after, Naruto was back with a tray of two cups of steaming tea in one hand. He expertly delivered the cups to the coffee table before he seated himself in front of his teachers.

"Well we actually want to speak with your parents," Iruka started to act like a real teacher since it was needed.

"Sorry, sensei. Mom and Dad are on their _Honey Moon_ trip to Okinawa. But they'll be home next Sunday," Naruto informed, scratching his cheek sheepishly.

"Oh, I see…" Iruka nodded, understanding. "Then, we will visit you per two days to check on you guys. If you need anything, just give a call, alright?" He smiled while ruffling Naruto's blond hair adoringly. Surely, he could be some kind of substitute while Naruto and Sasuke's parents were away. Naruto could count on him and Kakashi. After all, teachers equaled parents in school.

"Thank you, sensei!" Naruto smiled happily at him. Iruka really liked that bright smile. It warmed his heart every time he saw it.

"Well then, I'll be the father, and Iruka the mother! Father and mother love each otheee—r!" Kakashi spread his arms to hug Iruka again, completely spouting nonsense that Iruka couldn't help himself but slam Kakashi's face down on the sofa.

"Shut up, and stay still!" Iruka hissed, still annoyed and embarrassed at Kakashi's shameless gesture.

"Iruka…so cruel…—," Kakashi sobbed again childishly. Iruka sighed in defeat.

"Is he always like this?" Naruto stared at the two incredulously, causing Iruka to blush slightly.

"Yah, well… he can be rather spoiled," Iruka laughed nervously at that, slightly embarrassed. "But…" he softened his expression now. "He is a good judge of character and at important times, he is understanding and always supports my heart and feeling… you can really depend on him, too…" he wanted to say that he loved Kakashi because not only of his fine characteristic, but also of his flaws. Yet, he guessed he had delivered the message quite nicely because Naruto looked rather amazed, his cheeks dusted pink and he looked down, probably feeling embarrassed as well.

"Iruka-sensei… really loves him, huh?"

Iruka couldn't help smiling softly at the awkward question. The blond looked very uncomfortable, but he looked like he was trying hard to be as open minded as possible about it. He even smiled albeit rather stiff. Iruka really appreciated the gesture as he chuckled. "Yes." Naruto widened his smile before he grinned joyfully for his teacher's happiness as well.

Though, Iruka couldn't help but blink ridiculously as he noticed the boy's feet. "Huh… why are your feet yellow?"

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Oi, Sasuke, wake up!"

Sasuke jerked and snapped back to reality as he heard the voice and the click of fingers in front of his face. "W-wha—?" He was still slightly disoriented as the view of his surrounding came back to him slowly and then he realized that he wasn't in his home anymore. More like… he was moving. "Huh? Where am I? What happened?" He looked around, still confused despite noticing the interior design of a car.

"My car, we're going for a ride while Iruka and Naruto are cleaning the house from all that paint," Kakashi informed.

Sasuke blinked several times before he recalled what happened a few moments prior. He widened his eyes in shock as he turned to face Kakashi who was leisurely driving. "Y-you… and Iruka-sensei…?!" he was gawking while pointing at the silver haired teacher with trembling index finger.

"Yep, we're lovers," Kakashi replied as if it was the most normal thing in the universe.

Sasuke snapped his mouth shut and looked at his teacher in disbelief. "How could you say something like that so openly?" He knew he was overreacting, but wasn't Kakashi scared of public judgment?

"Why should I cover it? I don't think this is something I should be ashamed of," Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly.

"But…a romantic relationship between men is…" Sasuke didn't have a heart to say _taboo_ to him. Despite being annoying most of the time, Kakashi was still a person that he looked up to at some point. He was still his teacher after all.

"It's minor, but it exists," Kakashi drawled easily. Somehow, Sasuke suddenly got an epiphany of why Iruka accepted that perverted teacher as his lover. He was wise and dependable sometimes, and no doubt, behind that mask, Kakashi was a good looking man. "Do you despise homosexuality?"

Sasuke jolted in surprise at the sudden unexpected question. Kakashi wasn't looking at him, but his tone was somber and serious. Surely, Sasuke's opinion mattered somehow, for the older man. Sasuke appreciated that the teacher valued him so highly.

"No…" Sasuke answered truthfully. Kakashi visibly sighed, looking relieved as a crinkle appeared around his visible eye, informing Sasuke enough that he was smiling.

Though, the reason of why Sasuke said that was because Sasuke himself doubted his own sexual orientation. One, he had never been interested in any girl, or _anyone_ for that matter, but for the past few days… he had been so fixated with Naruto. He knew it was probably his teenager's hormone rearing its ugly face, but he had _never_ experienced it with other people aside Naruto. Two, he found out that Naruto actually had a lot of cute traits that he never showed at school and probably only a handful people knowing about it, and three… when he saw Naruto's naked body yesterday, he had felt the surge of 'lust' that even caused him to have nosebleed.

Sasuke cringed in horror. After such obvious evidences, how could he not realize it? Deep down in his heart, somehow… he was probably attracted to Naruto. But he wasn't sure if that attraction was purely physical or something more. After all, it was only the first time he had ever felt it. That warm feeling which suddenly lingered in his heart when he was near the blond boy…. However, he couldn't just admit that he had feelings for him, his own _step brother_. It was against his pride and social conduct. So he couldn't possibly… he just _wasn't allowed to_!

"What's wrong?" Kakashi apparently noticed the torrents of conflicted emotion washing over Sasuke's usually stoic expression.

"Nothing…" Sasuke covered his face with his palm, feeling dizzy so suddenly. He couldn't deal with this. He had no capacity to think about it rationally when it came to the matter of heart. Surely, he needed to consider this more carefully and probably talk to someone about it, but whom the hell could he talk to anyway? Sasuke had to always maintain his image. It was unlikely of him seeking guidance from someone else because he was the _perfect_ guy in other people's mind.

_Sometimes being so popular has its downside_ —Sasuke sighed deeply.

"You're making a face as if the world was going to end, Sasuke," Kakashi interrupted his train of thought and Sasuke scowled.

"Shut up."

"You're welcome if you want to talk," Kakashi chuckled and Sasuke couldn't help feeling absolutely annoyed that Kakashi could read him like an open book despite his effort in hiding his emotion behind his icy mask.

"Not now… but I might talk in the near future," he decided to give Kakashi a chance to act like a teacher for once and Kakashi seemed content with his response. "By the way, where are we going?" Nice. The change of topic went smoothly as Sasuke looked outside the window. The road was unfamiliar for him.

"No intended destination. I told you Iruka and Naruto kicked us out since we were pretty useless in house work," Kakashi chuckled. "Iruka was freaking out that you guys made such mess with the paint and he said something about house-cleaning session afterwards. Sheesh… they're similar in some ways that it wasn't strange if they were the real father and son…"

"Hn," Sasuke didn't think anything about it before something clicked on his mind. "Eh?! House-cleaning session?!" he was alarmed at that.

_House-cleaning…? They won't just barge inside my room to do just that, right? They won't dare, right?!_ —Sasuke was instantaneously horrified. No, he knew how Naruto was. The blond boy probably saw this as a chance to rummage around Sasuke's personal things to look for his weakness. _Oh, hell NO!_

"Kakashi-sensei! Turn around and go back to the house, NOW!" Sasuke instantly panicked.

"What?" Kakashi looked surprised, but he obliged seeing that Sasuke was paling severely.

_I was so careless! I left 'that' on my table…! I just hope that Naruto is an idiotic dork that he doesn't know what it is!_

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Naruto, the bathroom has been cleaned!" Iruka shouted from the bathroom at the first floor.

"Yeah, can you please clean the living room too?" Naruto shouted back from upstairs, precisely from Sasuke's room. He had just finished his bedroom, and now he was about to start cleaning Sasuke's.

_Uwaaa, his room is so clean and tidy, what a neat-freak!_ —Naruto thought in disbelief. _Moreover, I can't find any suspicious things here!_ —Guilty as charged, Naruto was indeed snooping for blackmail material. But damn! Sasuke didn't even hide a single porn book under his bed. That guy wasn't normal, seriously!

Naruto was rather disappointed at the null finding. However then, he kept searching while cleaning the room until he found something on Sasuke's computer desk.

_What is this… a wallet?_ —Naruto took the black leather wallet and opened it. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw something unusual in there.

_This is…?_

**End of Chapter 5**

**Tbc…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fu-fu-fu—, what does Naruto find there…? Are you curious? I won't tell you! *evil laugh* Ahem, it's interesting to write this chapter. What do you think? Is it cute enough? Tell me, please~! About what Naruto finds on Sasuke's desk, it will be revealed in next chapter, along with a little of Sasuke and Naruto's past family (of course there will be Itachi too *glee*). So maybe the next chapter is rather… emotional. But no worries! I'll keep the humor and romance a lot too! So… jaa ne!


	7. Chapter 6: I Want to Know You More (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a little background story for Sasuke and Naruto's past families....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… turns out I still have time to update before this year (2013) ends. Well, I’m sorry for neglecting this story for months. Some of you probably is sick of waiting and decide to stop reading, but if you are still with me, then… please do and enjoy this new chapter.  
>  **Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**  
>  **Warning:** _the usual crude language, shounen ai, etc…_

  
**Chapter 6:** _**I Want to Know You More (Part 1)** _   


* * *

**Los Angeles, Red Moon Modeling Agency; 16.50—**

"Thank you for your hard work, Kisame-san!"

A boy, presumably still in his early teen, no older than 13, bid his goodbye to a man in his mid thirties. The man's skin was unnaturally pale, almost bordering into light bluish, and he bore a facial form that lived up to his name since there were three pairs of odd scars bellow the both of his small, round eyes without eyelashes, like gills. He also had lines of jagged sharp teeth as an addition, and his nose was really pointy. Overall, he looked like fish,  _shark_ , to be precise. Still, despite his slightly scary appearance, he was undeniably professional with his working suit.

"Be careful on your way, Yukimaru. Don't rush to your sister or you might fall down on your face instead of your butt this time," the man, Kisame, advised while smirking, amicably amused as the long-blond haired boy's face turned interestingly red, like a ripe tomato, in reaction to his jest.

"Sheesh… that was  _one time_! I won't fall again! Please stop making fun of me, Kisame-san, you idiot!" the cute, caramel-eyed kid huffed in annoyance and mostly in embarrassment, before he slammed the door close as soon as he stepped out of the room instead of rushing out like he intended to do earlier.

Kisame cackled while beside him, another man sent him a disapproving stare. "Stop teasing the kid, or he will sue you for sexual harassment, Kisame."

Kisame turned to face him this time, his grin widening. "That's my privilege, obviously, since  _I am_   _his_  manager," he responded to the smooth, long-black haired man smugly.

"No wonder those previous models requested to have you removed from their manager position. You just never learn how to stop when you need to," the other man deadpanned, but Kisame just let out a small laugh at that.

"Despite it all, you stick to me, Itachi-san," he pointed out and the other man, Itachi, almost,  _almost_  smiled. He knew Itachi was as amused as he was even though his expression revealed nothing of such. Only a twitch of one of his jet-black eyes indicated that he wasn't even serious with his rebuke.

"Well, you do a decent job in this line of business." Itachi shrugged indifferently. It was the closest Kisame would get for a compliment from the normally very composed young man. Itachi was still 24, but he possessed predisposition, intelligence and persuasive appearance to bring himself around in entertainment industry that he was pretty much a top model of Red Moon Modeling Agency now, along with the rising star actor, Akasuna Sasori who was considerably older despite his baby face and adorable look. Ah, and not forgetting that flashy little blond of his boyfriend… who was quite a charmer when he wanted to be. Though, people tended to avoid him after knowing how  _loud_ and  _whiny_  he could get at times.

_Who is it again…? Deilara? No, that's not quite… Dei… Dei-…_

"Though, you will do better without your unnecessary…  _mockery_." Apparently Itachi couldn't help adding his remark and Kisame snorted as he was distracted from his train of thought.

" _Mockery_ ,  _really_? Who says that nowadays?" He shook his head, resisting the urge to laugh harder at Itachi's antics. Despite their long history as partners in modeling business (well, Kisame was fairly new as a manager when he was first assigned by his boss to take care of Itachi, still undoubtedly a brat himself because he was still a freshman in university at that time), he still didn't understand the grace of diction Itachi spouts out time to time. He presumed it had something to do with a family background, bearing the name of  _Uchiha_  and all.

Not that Kisame wanted to ask why an Uchiha landed a job as an entertainer across the world of his nation. Nope. Not at all…

…

… _alright_ , who was he kidding? He was dying to know, but Itachi never cracked at his (not so) subtle ministration to trick him into revealing his past and secret. By now, Kisame already half-gave up hope on finding out the answer.

"Anyway, what about that new job request from Japan? Has the…  _leader_ decided who will go to fulfill the show?" Itachi's question once again brought Kisame back to reality.

"Ah, that… actually, the client's company specifically asked for you to model for their latest batch of spring collection. You do have a time off for a month after that…" Kisame noticed the slight frown of rejection on Itachi's face immediately and shook his head, "Uh-oh… it's  _boss' order_ because you've never taken any vacation and gone home to your home country for the past six years since you started a job in our agency," he sent the younger man a pointed look. "Go home, Itachi-san. Your family must terribly miss you."

To his credit, Itachi didn't look too offended even though he did seem rather thoughtful. "I honestly doubt it…" And if he sounded partly resigned after that, Kisame would just pretend that he didn't hear any of it.

"By the way, a letter came from Japan today, addressed to you," Kisame rummaged through the piles of fan letters which amount never seemed to decrease despite the attempt to relocate them again and again to the disposal bin since all models, actors and actresses in their agency didn't care to read them one by one at all, much less to reply them. Obviously, they didn't have time for that. But letters and postcard from family members were different; Kisame and the other managers made sure to short them out carefully before dumping the rest to the incinerators.

 _Some of those fan letters are exceptionally disturbing after all_ —Kisame shuddered when he remembered that one time he read a fan letter, obviously from a  _male_  fan with such messy hand-writing and an attached photo of him being in indecent position, asking for Itachi to make babies with him. Kisame was scarred for life and refused to do his  _managing_  job for a week after that mortifying experience,  _professional or not_. His eyes and mental didn't deserve such horrible image. Thank you very much.

"From Japan?" Itachi raised his eyebrows. Truth to be told, he wasn't really known in Japanese modeling world despite being a full-fledge Japanese himself. For some reason, Itachi only accepted jobs in America and Europe,  _never_  in Asia. Again, Kisame didn't know the reason, but it probably had something to do with Itachi's family background,  _ahem_.

"Yep, from…" Kisame paused, looked over the white envelope and read the writing that bore the name of the sender, "-Uchiha Mikoto," he finished while offering it to Itachi.

Itachi looked detached for a moment and Kisame swore the very handsome model hesitated for a fraction of second before his expression turned neutral once again while he accepted the letter. He didn't make any gesture to open the envelope though, only stared at it for awhile before he slipped it into his black Armani trousers pocket.

"I will think about the job offer and the order from the leader," Itachi said as he stood, getting ready to go home since there was no more job for him today at the office and certainly not at the field because he just finished another fashion show that afternoon. He must have been quite tired. Kisame wondered why he didn't just go home after finishing his job instead of lounging around in the office with him.

"Be careful on your way. Ah… do you need a ride?" Kisame was being considerate because Itachi rarely used his own car and preferred public transportation even though it was obviously a bad choice because,  _Hellooo! Supermodel here! Please swarm me with rabid fans and paparazzi!_ —yep, it was certainly  _NOT_  a good idea.

Though, like a miracle that was Uchiha Itachi, the supermodel managed to go through that every time without a single scratch in his perfect form. Kisame suspected that Itachi was secretly a Ninja who could travel without presence and sound when he wanted to. He was  _creepy_  like that, regardless of his amazing prowess to entice men and women from behind a camera.

"That will be unnecessary, but thanks anyway," Itachi responded to him evenly, not as much as looking at Kisame's direction before he fixed his cap to conceal much of his face, and walked out of the room with a soft click of the door closing.

Kisame shrugged at that. "Suit yourself." He mumbled, before getting back to his job.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Itachi took a taxi to go home to his loft. Yes, he owned one and he had no problem in paying for the expense, even with the pricy cost of buying instead of renting. He was a supermodel after all, though he was careful to never show his face in Japan entertainment world, meaning: Asia was  _off limits_. It wasn't because of anything special per se… he just didn't want to be seen by…  _certain fellows_.

…

… _fine_ , certain fellows consisted of Itachi's family, since he didn't part with them in good term, especially with his father and younger brother.

Itachi sighed right after he sat on his sofa and put down his bag on the coffee table. He dropped the cap beside his thigh and massaged the bridge of his nose periodically with his left hand, before then sinking his back altogether on the backrest of his plush couch, letting another long tired sigh escape his slightly parted lips.

For awhile, he stayed like that with closed eyes. A few minutes later he opened them again and started to fish out the letter in his pocket. He took it out carefully, smoothed the wrinkle at the corner of the envelope before he peeled the lid slowly off the sticky seal. He blinked as he found a piece of picture inside instead of a letter. Yet what surprised him even more was the writing under the picture.

_My remarriage ceremony! My new beloved husband, Uzumaki Arashi, and my adorable children Naruto and Sasuke. Now you have two cute little brothers!_

Itachi knew his mother hand-writing by heart because she always wrote to him in spite of his lack of response for the past years. Okay, in Itachi's defense, he didn't really have time to do so because of his stupidly hazardous schedules in his early careers as a young male model and by the time he was considered as supermodel, he already took  _another job_  that required his time as much,  _perhaps more_  than his modeling job. Well, he was certainly a genius that he could compartment his life and divide his time flawlessly and still survived to the present. Punctual was the secret and Itachi didn't hesitate to turn down a job offer/order if he didn't think he could handle it.

Alright, back to the case. So…Itachi's mom remarried. Her new husband, spiky blond, aquamarine eyes, nice body built, cheery smile,  _Uzumaki Arashi_ ; he looked like a good person. The children, one of them obviously his brother, Sasuke, and the other… a carbon copy of his father, spiky blond, though a shade darker, closer to orange, and cerulean eyes… more like the sky color instead of the sea,  _Naruto_ ; they seemed to be content as well, although there was something electrical with the way those kids glanced at each other.

"Hmm…" Itachi shifted his gaze on the taller blond man once again, taking in the detail appearance until he was satisfied. Then he flipped over the photograph only to find an ' _I miss you'_  note from his mother and he couldn't resist the small smile forming on his usually stoic face.

Despite being a supermodel that could change his facial masks any other way for the photographer's multiple requests, Itachi actually had such… expressionless basic look. That's what made him very good at his job. But exclusive for his family, he could muster his will for his facial nerves to show any expression that matched his feeling. And right now he felt warmth all over his heart.

_Maybe it's not a bad idea to come home… Certainly it will ease mother's worry._

Itachi shut his eyes and the smile stayed on his lips for many minutes later before there was a knock on the door and the knocks were repeated particularly, coded, that Itachi instantly noticed, his smile gone. The person behind his loft door was not paparazzi or salesman or any fan. Otherwise he wouldn't bother to stir at all. But since these knocks would lead him to his  _other job_ , he opened his eyes, stood up slowly and then padded to his home entrance.

Itachi stopped in front of his door and knocked twice on the hard wooden surface. There was a faint rustle behind the door before an A4 sized brown envelope was slid into his loft from the mail outlet. Itachi picked the envelope up and strutted back to his living room where he could sit down once again and read the detail of his job before burning the said job description for…  _security_  reason.

Itachi retrieved a bunch of classified files from the envelope and he raised his eyebrows quite higher than usual as he was met with a  _face_  at the top file, that looked familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time since he just saw the picture of the very same man, albeit rather older in the picture his mother had sent him, rather than the man in the picture he was holding now.

"Oh boy…" Itachi couldn't help mumbling as he set aside the picture to read the detail of his assignment underneath it. "Hmm… Namikaze Minato, huh?"

_Different name…_

Now, Itachi didn't need to get bemused over what he would do with that job offer from the Japanese clothing company. With this secret task in hand, he certainly needed time to go  _home_  to his new family. Besides, a month seemed fine enough time to look into things… more deeply and carefully.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Naruto was… unusually quiet.

Gaara and Kiba stared at their blond leader, one in deadpan and one in bewilderment. In their argument, it was because the view was too  _surreal_. Naruto was  _never_  silent, despite being in the middle of a school lesson (to his teachers' dismay because he tended to disturb their teaching). He usually had less than five seconds attention span after all, like a brat suffering from ADHD, and apparently, it wasn't just the two of them that was baffled by this… state of affairs.

Iruka who had been glancing at the blond time to time also looked considerably bothered. Naruto seemed to be deep in thought, but his eyes were unfocused… like he was dazed out of his mind. No matter what happened to him (or what was happening inside his head right now), it must have been something  _big_  enough to render him  _muted_ like that.

Frankly, it made everyone in the class nervous (even Shikamaru who was usually in deep slumber was staring at him curiously), sans Gaara who was actually more uneasy than he seemed to be since he didn't have that many ranges of facial expression. Naruto being quiet for almost two hours after the class started this morning was very alarming. Iruka looked like he was about to address Naruto several times now, but he stopped himself, probably because he didn't have any excuse to do so. Naruto didn't actually break any rule by being silent, but Iruka apparently also knew that it would be too cruel of him to ask Naruto to answer questions from the lesson because he knew his favorite pupil had not paid attention to his explanation in the first place. Iruka settled by sighing, almost certainly making note to himself to call Naruto to the teacher's office  _after_ the school.

Gaara and the others though, were not that patient.

As soon as the lunch break arrived, they closed in on the gullible blond who only just noticed them when they already surrounded him apprehensively. Naruto blinked once and looked upward at them, raising his eyebrows in question. "What?"

"Are you ill?" Kiba asked, very vexed now, though that didn't prevent him from putting Akamaru down in front of the still sitting Naruto, on his desk.

" _What?_ " Now, Naruto looked endearingly dumbfounded, glancing at the puppy distractedly before reaching out his hand to pat the head, ruffling its soft fur absentmindedly.

"Kiba has a point. You're being so…  _unnaturally_  noiseless for-," Shikamaru paused, looking over the watch of the student beside him, before continuing, "-almost five hours now." He nodded, satisfied with his calculation of time in mere seconds. Gaara didn't say anything and only gave Naruto a pointed gaze, agreeing with Shikamaru.

"Oh, that…" Naruto shrugged. "I'm thinking," he didn't even pay mind to them anymore as he smiled at the puppy nuzzling at his palm, and decided to pick it up to put back down on his lap, so he could play with it better.

At that, Gaara and a handful of people raised their eyebrows. Well, in Gaara's case, his brows, since his eyebrows were so thin such that they were hard to spot. "You seem to think quite much these days…" the red head couldn't resist trailing off. He didn't want to sound too care lest the others would mock him for getting soft. He had a reputation to uphold after all.

"We-ell~," Naruto dragged his speech, looking almost wry at some point. "It is a… _private_  issue that needs to be taken care of…" And he was annoyingly being cryptic.

Gaara's eyes twitched. He hated it when Naruto was being difficult on purpose. "Then try to take care of it  _right here_ ," he almost hissed in challenge because that's what usually started Naruto's gear to blab whatever it was whirling inside his brain.

There was a flash of defiance in Naruto's eyes for a second before it dulled once again to his brilliant blues. "I told you. It's  _personal_." He looked almost pouting now and Gaara didn't find it cute or amusing at all.

"Naruto…" Gaara growled in warning as the blond decided to look the other way nervously, a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek. Then Gaara got an epiphany. "Does it have something to do with  _Jinchuuriki_?" He shot and the chatter around them died down instantly.

…

" _What?!_ " Kiba was the first to break the eerie silence in total horror as Shikamaru almost dropped his jaw on the floor, totally speechless.

"No, no, no! Dear God,  _no_!" Naruto frantically flailed in rebuff, shaking his head repeatedly. "It has nothing to do with  _those_ people! I swear!"

"Hey, you—damn red head! Stop scaring us like that, sheesh! I thought my heart jumped out of my throat just now!" Kiba immediately shrieked at Gaara, protesting while pointing at him as if he had just committed a murder under his nose.

Gaara only huffed lightly. "I am  _not_  sorry."

"What did you say?!" Kiba's screech was louder and Shikamaru only sighed in resignation as Gaara and Kiba started to bicker. Well, it was a one-sided screaming match because Gaara pointedly ignored the dog-lover.

"Cut it out, Kiba! You're too loud!" Shikamaru finally snapped and kicked Kiba's shin in annoyance, causing him to yelp and curse at Shikamaru now, for being violent so suddenly.

"You have bags under your eyes, Shika," Naruto observed.

"Thanks for being obvious,  _genius_ ," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, tone dripping with sarcasm.

 _He must have been up very late last night—_ the others couldn't help thinking, sweat dropping.

"So… what's going on?" Now Shikamaru crossed his arms in front of his chest, narrowing his eyes at Naruto. "Spill,"  _or else_ —was left unsaid, but sometimes even Shikamaru could be intimidating despite his  _laziness_. He was still one of Naruto's gang members, and frankly, he was the  _genius_ one. He appeared harmless, but he was actually quite deadly in a more… subtle way.

Naruto scratched his cheek, looking uncertain. "You guys… are just too persistent."

"It's called an intervention for a reason, you know." Gaara smirked and Naruto sighed deeply as Kiba grinned.

"What do I do with you guys…" the blond gave them a small smile and it was basically a victory for them because a smiling Naruto was much better than that…  _brooding_  one.

"So, is it a love problem?" Kiba wagged his brow and elbowed Naruto's side suggestively.

"Idiot! It's nothing like that!" Naruto shoved him none too gently, but the blush on his face was quite priceless.

"Then what is it?" Shikamaru was impatient because he was sleepy and Naruto wasn't helping by shouting like a five year old throwing a tantrum.

"Ah… it's… a family issue…" Naruto once again avoided looking into their eyes, and Gaara looked upward at him in alarm.

"Something happened to your father?" The others gasped slightly at that as well.

"No, well… in a way,  _yes_ , but… it's not about that," Naruto shook his head again. "It's complicated…" he let out a long suffering sigh again, looking defeated.

Gaara, Kiba and Shikamaru glanced at each other, silently communicating with their eyes. Then they decided. If it was indeed family matters, they didn't have any right to force Naruto to tell them. Unless Naruto determined that it was okay to do so… because Naruto's  _family circumstance_  was a sensitive topic to him and  _them_ , generally.

Gaara sighed again after a few minutes. "Fine. You don't have to tell us," he turned around and walked away.

"Gaara?" Naruto sounded apologetic and unsure, but Kiba immediately tapped his shoulder, still smiling widely.

"Just remember. We're here for you if you need us!" Kiba's grin widened and Naruto smiled again at him and Shikamaru, who was grumbling  _'troublesome'_  in his wake, and also at Gaara's retreating back.

"Thanks, guys." Naruto looked touched and sounded poignant as he said it.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke heaved out a deep sigh on his desk, staring blankly at a file on his hand. He had come in to student council office at lunch break to take a look at some suggestions from the students on how to improve their school facilities, but… he couldn't actually consider and think about them when his head was in a mess.

Alright, hyperbolic, he  _knew_. But Sasuke couldn't help it. He was restless and as much as he loathed to admit it, he started to feel like fidgeting, causing Neji, who was sitting at his own desk beside him (for the same reason as Sasuke, apparently, but the piles of suggestion sorted out by Neji on Sasuke's desk hadn't decreased at all in the past ten minutes), to give him an odd glare.

"Are you planning to read that one paper  _forever_?"

And he was cranky to boot. What was wrong with Neji anyway? Did he still hold a grudge toward Sasuke or something? Sasuke did report his wrong doing to the supervisor of disciplinary committee which then caused Neji to get a detention from school, but was that a reason to resent Sasuke at all? He was just doing his job.

"No," Sasuke put the paper down. And then sighed again as he recalled the event yesterday.

_Sasuke jumped out of Kakashi's car the moment he pulled the vehicle over the side road just beside his house. He immediately ran and entered his house with a bang on the front door which surprised Iruka who had just emerged from the kitchen._

_"Ah, welcome home, Sasu—"_

_But, Sasuke ignored his teacher and ran passing him in bullet speed to the staircase. He jumped two stair steps at a time before rushing to his room. He was about to barge in when the door opened and—_ bless his agility _. This time he could stop before he could collide with, or worse, run over Naruto who just came out of his room._

_"Oh, you're home? That's fast." Naruto raised his eyebrows at Sasuke who was panting slightly because of his sprint earlier._

_"You… don't just touch my stuffs as you like it!" Sasuke snarled warningly._

_"Are you stupid? How am I supposed to clean your room if I can't touch your stuffs?" Naruto looked at him incredulously._

_"I can clean my own room!" Sasuke snapped, irritated because Naruto insulted him again._

_"Well, too late! I already finished!" Naruto thrust out his tongue at him then._

_"What?!" Sasuke was distressed and pushed Naruto away so he could enter his room to check if anything was damaged, out of place, or worse…!_

_Sasuke involuntarily glanced at his computer desk and his gaze zeroed on the wallet just beside the keyboard. It was still there, where he had left it before. There was also no sign that it had been touched._

_Sasuke glanced over his back where Naruto was still proudly standing on his doorstep. "What? I clean well enough to your taste, Sasuke-sama?" Now the blond mocked him, but Sasuke couldn't care less at that moment. He was wondering if Naruto didn't notice the wallet at all._

_Or maybe, he noticed but chose not to say anything…_

_"Why are you looking at me as if I am a puzzle?" Naruto huffed, looking befuddled, probably because Sasuke didn't rise to his goading. "Whatever. Seriously, you need to get a life, Sasuke. I can't believe I actually didn't find a single porn book in your room."_

_"I don't have any!" Sasuke practically shouted in direct reaction, inwardly horrified because Naruto seriously hunted down some dirty magazines inside his room._

_"Exactly," Naruto made a face. "Now, get downstairs. Iruka-sensei has cooked something for our lunch."_

_And then the blond nonchalantly left Sasuke to ponder alone in his room. Sasuke retrieved his wallet and then stared at it for a moment, debating if he should open it or not to check, just in case. But then he decided against it and pocketed it safely in his pants._

Sasuke rested his chin on his palm, still reminiscing. Even after that, Naruto still didn't say anything about that wallet and its content. Maybe he really didn't touch it, much less seeing what was inside it. Though, during the lunch after that, the blond was unusually quiet.

Another sigh escaped his lips and apparently, Neji was at his limit of his patience because the pen head in his hand cracked while he was writing. Sasuke inwardly winched when the long haired older teen sent him a death glare. "Sasuke… maybe you should take a break and eat your lunch at cafeteria rather than being a distraction here since you're  _not helping_  with the work."

Alright, Sasuke admitted that he was being ridiculous with all the unnecessary concern about  _that thing_  (still, he would die of shame if Naruto actually saw  _it_  and considered him… _weird_ ) _._ But man… Neji could be totally intimidating when he wanted to be. Besides, Sasuke was indeed at fault here, so he couldn't really blame Neji for being prissy.

"I'm working," Sasuke replied coolly. Well, it didn't mean he would admit it out loud that he was being unreasonable and Neji made a frustrated groan about 'Sasuke' and 'alien' there, even though Sasuke didn't understand how those two words could stand together in the same line.

_Whatever. Let's just hope that Naruto really didn't see a thing. I should just stop obsessing over it…_

Thus Sasuke shrugged and once again tried to concentrate on the paper on his hand.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Naruto was enjoying his bread while walking at the backyard when something, or actually  _someone_ , rushed over to his direction and jumped him from behind. "Naruto-kun!"

"Yargh!" Naruto was caught off guard as something hard connected to his back and he almost tumbled down on the ground as he jumped to stable his balance in an odd angle. He immediately turned around and threw a punch that was instantly caught in a strong calloused palm. "Fuzzy Eyebrow, you bastard! You almost made me drop my lunch!" he couldn't help yelling as his sight was met with a pair of very thick eyebrows above a pair of round funny black eyes, in perfect order of an oval shaped face, and topped by a bowl-cut short, black hair.

"Ahaha! You are always so full of spirit, Naruto-kun! I missed fighting with you!" the guy, Rock Lee, held Naruto's fist strongly for a moment before he pulled the blond in a crushing, manly hug with his other arm, almost knocking Naruto's breath out of his lungs with the force.

"Don't get too close to me!" Naruto shuddered and pushed Lee's face away from his. Seriously, this guy needed to understand the concept of  _personal space_.

"Whaaat? That's harsh, Naruto-kun! Aren't you missing me at all when I was recuperating in hospital for a week?!" Lee demanded, looking like a kicked puppy that Naruto flinched slightly, actually feeling a tiny-weenie bit guilty.

"That wasn't my fault, you know. You tripped on your own feet when you ran delivering your ultimate technique," Naruto still tried to pry Lee's hold on his neck, despite his softer tone. "How's your head, by the way? I heard you got mild concussion or something…"

"I'm perfectly fine now! Seven stitches to the head is  _nothing_ at all! I feel awesome and brimming with energy to renew our battle!" Lee finally released Naruto to strike his trade mark 'good guy' pose, with a thumb rising, one hand on his waist and a cheery wink. His teeth even were shining. Lee was always eccentric like that, despite being a white gakuran wearer. Naruto couldn't really dislike him. Surely, he was hard working and studious like the other whites, but he didn't look down on the black gakuran wearer. In fact, Lee interacted more with the blacks for some reason… probably because he was so persistent and good natured, even though it could be annoying. He was also a year older, in the same class as Neji, and he was a captain of the Karate Club.

Actually, Naruto heard that Neji was the captain, but he was too busy in student council to attend the club practice regularly since his second year started, so he gave the position to Lee, because he was the strongest after Neji. Their Karate Club was quite powerful since they seized second place in National Tournament last year. Lee had been working to lure Naruto into the club these past months and he had done so with challenges day after day after day that Naruto eventually got sick of him and last week, he had agreed to fight him in condition that if Lee lost, he had to leave Naruto alone.

Naruto didn't want to attend any club. He tended to go brawling outside the school and if he was in any club, the club would be banned from any official match, catching on to his latest escapades. He'd rather die than being a burden like that.

Then Naruto blinked, realizing what Lee had said. "You still want to fight…" He looked at Lee deprecatingly.

"Why of course! We hadn't finished our match because of that tiny accident! Now that I'm fully healed, we can do so!" Lee's eyes were burning with passion as he brought his fists in front of his chest.

"Fuzzy Eyebrow, I hate to inform you, but  _I_   _won_  that fight since your carelessness caused your own defeat. Still, whatever the reason, you have to fulfill your end of our bargain. Stop bothering me already," Naruto huffed at him.

"Eeeh?! But, BUT! That kind of defeat is very LAME!" Lee protested. "Guy-sensei will be ashamed of me! I don't want to embarrass my  _shishou_  like that!" and he looked kind of panicked and pathetic with that horror-stricken face.

"That is  _not_  my business," Naruto turned away, before he could feel another strike of guilt for seeing such helpless look in his senior's face.

"Guy-sensei… please forgive my worthlessness…!"

And Naruto twitched in exasperation when he started to hear the lament and snivels from behind him. He stopped and scratched his hair curtly in frustration. "Fine, alright! Let's fight one more time, but not today, okay?! I have something to think about!" He finally gave in and Lee immediately perked and jumped to hug him once again in total joy.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun! I know you're a good guy! You're my best rival!"

"Geeh! Don't decide as you please like that!" –and then Naruto was back to struggling, trying to peel the guy off of him while screeching in annoyance.

After some time though, they ended up sitting side by side under a Sakura tree, rather worn out. Naruto was finishing his interrupted lunch earlier and as an apology for disturbing Naruto, Lee gave him half of his melon bread that he could not finish. While eating though, Naruto couldn't help his mind wandering to the yesterday event, which prompted him to speculate a lot of things since he found that wallet in Sasuke's room and saw what was inside.

It was a picture… an old picture, probably  _years_  old. The color was still okay, but there was no doubt it had aged quite a bit judging from the yellowish tinge on the surface. But the obvious hint that it was an old picture was… the people in it.

There was Sasuke and someone that resembled him very much, only older. Sasuke in that picture was still a kid, probably still in elementary school and the older one… his father? But he looked too young to be a father. Besides, he still looked totally like a high school student. That mysterious guy had straight, long, black hair, tied into a loose pony tail and Sasuke was…

Sasuke was…  _smiling_.

 _Surprisingly, Sasuke looks very expressive in that picture, happiness brimming in his wide grin and glittery sparkling eyes. None of them faces the camera, but…—_ it was a beautiful picture in Naruto's eyes. The older guy seemed very kind with his gentle smile and Sasuke was delighted sitting on that guy's lap, laughing at something merrily.

Truthfully, Naruto was completely astonished when he saw the picture. He had assumed that Sasuke was always aloof and stoic, but… that picture blew his mind up. Even Sasuke could make such cheery expression. He couldn't help wondering what had happened in Sasuke's life that turned such pure, joyful child into an ice-prick teen like Sasuke nowadays.

 _Rebellious age? Teenager's angst?_ —Naruto shook his head, dismissing those stupid thoughts. He wasn't that dumb not to understand that  _something big_  must have happened. Big enough to change Sasuke's mindset… to turn his warm smile into constant cold sneer…

_"You can't run from your destiny!"_

Naruto closed his eyes, once again being reminded by his own experience that changed his life forever. And yet, he refused to succumb back into such dark thought.  _That guy_ was gone now. Naruto was safe, away from his mother's family.

 _Well… Sasuke must have his own family issue before our parents married each other. Though… that being mentioned, I actually know almost nothing of him personally, except maybe his fighting techniques and his preference of language when he's dealing with me—_ Naruto mused once again;  _Ah, but since we've lived together, I know that he likes Japanese dishes more than Western ones, and he adores soft, dark colors rather than the bold, bright ones. I don't think I need to know more about him, but… this kinda intrigues me…_

Yep, it made Naruto curious of Sasuke's past. He didn't like being nosy, but if Sasuke was willing, maybe they could share something in their past to each other. Not that Naruto was interested to being close to the bastard. He just wanted to know, and it was only fair if he shared something first if he wanted to snoop into Sasuke's life.

"Err…Naruto-kun?"

Naruto jerked in surprise when he felt someone tap his shoulders. He lifted his eyes to meet the fuzzy eyebrows' curious look. He grimaced for actually forgetting that he was with Lee at that moment. "What?" he blinked once at Lee, questioning.

"You'd been lost in thought for quite awhile, Naruto-kun. I've been calling you in the past five minutes," Lee informed and Naruto laughed sheepishly at that.

"Sorry 'bout that, Fuzzy Eyebrow, things have been hectic at home recently," he answered vaguely and Lee seemed about to say or ask something, but stopped himself before shrugging.

"Okay," he said and Naruto was grateful that Lee decided not to pry. "The lunch break is almost over, though. We should get back to our respective classes," Lee then started to collect their trashes while standing up.

"Ah, you can go ahead. I still need to think of something," Naruto waved him off, not intending to be on time since he didn't really like Ebisu's World History class anyway.

"No can do, Naruto-kun! You can't slack off or you won't be able to move a grade!" Lee scolded, or actually, he was a nosy guy for something like this. Naruto just resigned himself when he was being dragged back by the older teen, but he blinked in surprise when Lee suddenly stopped moving.

"Fuzzy Eyebrow?" Naruto looked upward at Lee and he looked… kind of suspicious.

"Naruto-kun, do you see that guy?" then he whispered at Naruto, pointing at the back gates approximately 30 feet in front of them.

"Huh?" Naruto looked over Lee's head and spotted what Lee saw. There was someone outside the gates, conspicuously looking inside the school premise. He was rather tall, probably over 170cm, and he wore hat and sunglasses that covered most of his head and face. He also wore fur-trimmed, long-heavy looking black coat despite it already in late spring. "How suspicious," Naruto decided immediately.

"Right? I've seen him skulk around our school since this morning. Do you think he's some kind of criminal?" Lee's eyes sparkled with challenge, probably intending to bust that guy up or something.

"Let's not be hasty. It can be just a tourist wanting a close look at our school," Naruto pointed out. Well, who knew how long that suspicious person had been hanging around the school ground? Lee only came back today and he already caught his interest after all. "I'll go talk to him and you, inform the disciplinary committee, in case he turns out to be a real criminal," he directed.

"Will do! Be careful now, Naruto-kun!" then Lee immediately dashed away to do his mission after saluting.

"Alright-y then," Naruto turned to face the gates once more and made a bee-line to greet their mysterious guest.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Itachi was staring beyond the gates nostalgically. He had graduated from this school. Three glorious years of being a student council president and having fun with his friends, though, his idea of fun at that time was quite… restrained. Oh, well… he was raised in a strict environment after all and he was too obedient because he longed for acknowledgement from his father.

Itachi had to say that he found Uchiha's principle too… self-centered,  _always has_ , since he was little. That's why he decided to leave as soon as he graduated high school because he realized that it was his life and he deserved to live it as he liked. Not even his father's disappointment or disapproval could stop him because he also inherited the stubborn and determined characteristics from an Uchiha. What he already decided, he would do it until he succeeded.

Now… lo and behold, Itachi did succeed. He was an independent working adult, a supermodel whose name was famously known in America and Europe continents. He was successful and he was itchy to gloat at his father, but no… he'd rather not be found right now.

Although it would be satisfying to see the horrified look on his father's face if he knew, Itachi was rather…concerned on how  _a certain someone_  would react to the news. He closed his eyes. He still regretted slightly that it had to come to this situation, between Itachi and  _him_. Now though, he couldn't avoid the confrontation because he had a mission from the organization that employed him.

_Besides, it's bound to involve my family. I guess this is the time to make amends…_

Apparently, Itachi had taken his time shutting his eyes for too long, because when he opened them once again, they were greeted by a pair of curious blue eyes staring deeply at his face behind the gates.  _Since when has he-?—_ Itachi was quite startled, even though he didn't show it much what with his baseball cap and purple-tinted sunglasses hindering the other's view of his face. He only blinked once as the blue-eyed blond gave him a feral grin.

"Hey,  _onii-san_  (1), what are you doing lurking around my school in such suspicious getup?" the boy asked while Itachi immediately realized that he _knew_  this boy. His face was familiar even though he didn't spot his whiskers-like scars on his cheeks from the photograph his mother had sent him. Bad lighting, he guessed.

"You are… Uzumaki Naruto?" Itachi asked tentatively and the boy raised his eyebrows at him.

"Wow, am I that famous? I don't even know you," Naruto narrowed his eyes then. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" And for some reason, the blond decided to intimidate Itachi even though he didn't do anything wrong.

Well, maybe prowling around the school ground wasn't his brightest idea. However, Itachi didn't want to suddenly appear on their house doorstep and introduced himself as a family member without informing part of the family first, especially the new one. He could always call his mother of his arrival, but then it would be boring because there was no element of surprise and Itachi kinda dug on it. It's what made him unpredictable in the first place. Things that brought headache to his father… he couldn't help smiling slightly at that.

"Well?" Naruto seemed impatient because he hadn't said a thing and Itachi decided to remove his cap and sunglasses to test if Naruto could guess who he was just by looking at his appearance. After all, he bore an uncanny resemblance to Naruto's step brother.

Naruto frowned at the gesture, but then the more Itachi revealed his face, the more Naruto widened his eyes and opened his mouth, gawking at him. "You—!"

Oh, yes, apparently Naruto indeed could guess who Itachi was.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke just happened to look outside the window when a certain view at the backyard caught his eyes. He was at the third floor, so the sight might not be clear enough, but he would never mistake that blond hair anywhere. There was only one person with such spiky hairstyle in that color at Konoha Academy. It was undoubtedly that dimwitted Naruto.

However, what stole Sasuke's attention even more was not the blond, but the person that stood outside the gates facing Naruto. When that person removed his cap and something which looked like sunglasses, Sasuke noticed his long, dark ebony hair, tied into loose pony tail and that body posture…

Sasuke widened his eyes in shock and stood up in a sudden, causing his chair to screech on the tile floor, surprising Neji who jolted in alarm. "What?!"

"Neji…" Sasuke couldn't help his voice sounding heavy and serious and Neji blinked at him in perplexity. "I'll take that previous offer and go to have that lunch  _now_. I'll leave the rest to you." Then he turned and marched out of the room, leaving Neji staring at the open door (yes, he didn't even have the decency to close the damn door) open mouthed.

_"But the recess time is almost over!"_

His shout that followed Sasuke's abrupt leaving could still be heard even though the raven already reached the stairs. Of course Sasuke ignored that call and went downstairs immediately. If what he suspected was true… and if his eyes didn't play trick on him, then….

_That guy has come back!_

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Holy crap…! You're an Uchiha!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the dark haired man's face as if he were a culprit of some heinous crime.

The man raised his flawless eyebrows slightly, looking so effortlessly cool.  _Damn!_  He was really an Uchiha after all. Those enticing dark onyx eyes, that perfect nose. Those -easy on the eyes- pale pink lips… and his voice,  _dear God_. Naruto had never heard such deep, alluring voice before. Although he looked a bit more masculine than Sasuke was with his slightly hard face lines, he still resembled Sasuke very much.

"And you look like Sasuke!" Naruto hitched, just realizing that this person was the same guy as the one in the old picture with the smiling Sasuke. "Wait, why— _how on earth_  are you guys so alike? Who the hell are you?!" and now Naruto was confused.

There was a pregnant silence for a few seconds before a soft chuckle bubbled out from the guy's mouth and Naruto's face heated slightly seeing the amused glint in the man's eyes. "What's so damn funny?!" he couldn't help feeling embarrassed so suddenly, because he certainly sounded and looked like a fool for exclaiming and pointing at the Sasuke look-alike-despite-the-longer-hair-and-the-older-age so blatantly.

"No, sorry…" the guy covered his mouth slightly with the back of his palm, still visibly smiling. "I just didn't expect that you will be so… _energetic_ ," he coughed, probably to conceal his laugh and Naruto's face flushed harder. He was about to yell at him to shut up, but the guy beat Naruto to it. "I see… so Sasuke had never mentioned me, huh? It's understandable though."

 _What the heck does that even mean?_ —Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, feeling anomalous suddenly with the reticent way that man spoke.

"Who are you?" Naruto repeated his question, more calmly now. This guy knew Sasuke and he was almost certainly an Uchiha with such distinctive characteristic.

"Ah, I apologize for my rudeness. I'm Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's elder brother." Itachi finally introduced himself, offering a handshake and Naruto couldn't help dropping his jaw unceremoniously at the  _news_  instead of returning the polite gesture _._

"SASUKE HAS A BROTHER?!" And of course he had to cry that out because he didn't think  _that selfish jerk_  had any sibling at all. Who would have thought? Sasuke was a spoiled,  _only_  child, right? A young master of Uchiha Corporation? How the hell had he ended up being a…  _a little brother_  to such fine, polite, young man in front of Naruto?

Itachi visibly cringed at the high pitch of Naruto's voice, but he kept his small smile intact. "Yes, he does. Though, it's been years since we met each other."

"Oh… right…" Naruto mumbled, still dumbfounded and rather taken aback for not suspecting such relationship between them. Of course there was a strong possibility that the guy in the photograph with Sasuke when he was little was his older brother.

 _Huh? Then why didn't they just meet whenever?_ —Now Naruto was so curious that he didn't realize staring at Itachi.

Itachi didn't look uncomfortable for being stared at so unashamedly, though. He just raised his nice eyebrows again. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, no… just wondering why all Uchihas have such… shared, similar feature…" Naruto answered absentmindedly.

Itachi looked mirthful now. "For being so cool?"

"Yeah… wait,  _what_?" Naruto realized what he had said, sputtered and blushed furiously. "Wha—, what?! No! What did you make me say!? That's not it!"

"We get that compliment a lot, Naruto-kun," Itachi still looked pointedly amused and proud of all sudden, causing Naruto to scowl immediately.

"Don't forget to add a  _narcissistic_ tendency," Naruto added dryly, infuriated because  _wow_  was he smug. Despite being rather playful, Itachi still had that air of arrogance that always seemed to follow Uchiha's name no matter what.

"But it is a fact, right, Naruto-kun?" Itachi's smile widened slightly and as much as Naruto hated to admit it, he was right. Not that Naruto paid so much attention to such detail of Uchiha's pretty face. Nope. Never.

Naruto clicked his tongue in consternation before he realized that Itachi called his name.  _Wait. He did call my name three times now!_

"How do you know my name?" Naruto asked curiously, giving Itachi the benefit of the doubt.

"Mother sent me a letter-picture about her re-marriage," Itachi answered calmly. "I've come to see it for myself."

However, Itachi didn't elaborate further. Naruto sighed deeply. "Then you should go to the center building and ask for formal meeting with Sasuke to talk about it. Loitering around the school wearing such clothes makes you look like a bad character." He suggested pointedly, eyeing Itachi's feature critically, and then remembered vividly that there was no one remotely resembling Itachi… or any Uchiha for that matter (aside his mom and Sasuke, of course), in the wedding ceremony.

"I should probably follow that idea then," Itachi gave him an expectant look and didn't move from his spot.

Naruto felt uncomfortable being stared at like that. He wasn't used to such look after all. "Do you need assistance or something?" Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"My, how thoughtful of you, Naruto-kun, I thank you for your consideration. Please do," Itachi smiled again, rather in triumph now.

Naruto shook his head as he opened the gates with ease. Of course he had his own means to do such thing. He was the boss of East Building after all.

 _But seriously… all Uchihas are strange—_ Naruto couldn't help thinking, shaking his head as he led Itachi to the center building's entrance.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke looked around as he arrived at the school backyard near East Building. He went straight to the gates and just in time when Naruto opened the gates and let Itachi enter. When the blond started to lead the dark haired man to the center building, Sasuke shouted from afar.

"Wait!"

Both the blond and the raven stopped, apparently having heard Sasuke's voice and they turned around at the same time. Naruto's expression visibly surprised and the other guy…  _a very familiar_  guy, raised one of his eyebrows slightly and yet his expression couldn't be read so easily with his very composed look.

"Just in time when we're about to see you, Sasu-chan," Naruto smirked teasingly.

"Don't call me  _–chan_!" Sasuke snapped at him more in reflex than in annoyance, but he was quite distracted from the blond since his eyes followed the other raven's feature quite literally.

"Hello, little brother. It's been awhile," finally the older guy,  _Itachi_ , greeted him with a serene smile.

Sasuke held down his urge to snarl at him. "What are you doing  _here_?" he almost hissed though, sharpening his gaze at Itachi coldly. Naruto raised his eyebrows at that, but he seemed to refrain himself from saying anything.

"Isn't that rather obvious? I'm here to meet my foolish little brother," Itachi kept his calm and it infuriated Sasuke more.

Sasuke snorted. " _Brother_ ," he spoke the word in such a way that sounded very… degrading even in his own ears. Good. He wanted Itachi to agonize over it. Though, the grown-up raven didn't even flinch.

"I know. You miss me too," Itachi smirked slightly and Sasuke  _had to_ gawk at him in disbelief.

"Where in the world did that come from?"

"Sasuke is always a bit  _tsundere_  (2), how cute." Itachi teased and Sasuke's face heated in instant fury and embarrassment.

"Who the hell did you call a  _tsundere_?!"

Of course, his face was probably flaming-red by now, because Naruto seemed unable to hold himself back anymore and snorted, pointing at Sasuke's face. "Oh, holy shit! Sasuke is blushing!" He doubled over, cackling like a mad boy.

"S-shut up, you  _Dobe_!" Sasuke snapped, the temperature around him seeming to increase even more having just remembered that the blond was there with them, and he reacted by attacking Naruto, feeling so livid and thwarted for being laughed at by  _him_  of all people. Still, Naruto wasn't goaded into retorting Sasuke's insult back because he was still too busy chortling at him.

Sasuke decided to ignore Naruto then, scowling, in favor of focusing once again on Itachi. "Why are you here?" He demanded once again, feeling increasingly irritated because Naruto hadn't stopped laughing yet.

"I told you, I-…"

" _Cut_ the CRAP _out_!" Sasuke shouted emotionally now, cutting Itachi's explanation and his raised voice seemed to surprise Itachi a bit, but apparently not enough to make him falter despite Sasuke's fiery gaze at his dark eyes. "There's just no way that you're here just for that. You… who left all those years ago without a word and without any explanation whatsoever…!"

_"It's alright, Sasuke. Big brother is here."_

"-without even a single letter…!" Sasuke's voice cracked slightly as he felt the sting of something liquidly unfamiliar in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, trying to hold down the sudden pour of emotion that he had kept buried deeply inside his heart, threatening to break the invisible wall he had built for years.

_"I'll always be with you, Sasuke."_

Sasuke closed his eyes hard, trying to blink back the… _whatever it was_  which almost fell down to his cheek.

Itachi didn't say anything for some time until- "Technically, I left for six years." Sasuke glared at him for that nonchalant comment. Though, there was a small twitch at the corner of Itachi's lips, forming a small smile, and Sasuke would have missed it had he not looked upward, since it was gone remarkably as fast as it appeared before. He had no freaking idea why Itachi smiled though.

"Doesn't matter. The underlined words here are that  _you left_." Sasuke growled, throwing Itachi another annoyed gaze, though he had to admit that it wasn't as hateful as before. He even felt more resigned than anything.

Itachi was silent again then, and Sasuke had to admit that it was a bit awkward. Before long though, Itachi's gaze shifted to Naruto who had been quiet since god knew when because the last time Sasuke remembered, the blond had been laughing like a lunatic. Surprisingly, Naruto were eyeing both Itachi and Sasuke perilously, as if he was considering something.

Sasuke was about to glower at Naruto when Itachi beat him to it. "Of course I want to see my new little brother as well," he said, promptly changing the subject and looking straight at Naruto. Sasuke bristled while throwing the older man another scathing glare. "Blond, blue eyes… a foreigner."

"I was born and raised in Japan, though… Well, my Dad  _is_  a foreigner," Naruto shrugged, now gazing solely at Itachi. "You have a problem with it?"

"Not at all," Itachi gave Naruto a mild once over. "To tell the truth, it pleases me. You look kind of adorable with your wild appearance." Naruto involuntarily blushed at that. "And-," Itachi then stepped forward, approaching Naruto, a glint of something akin to mischief in his eyes.

Sasuke was immediately aware of what Itachi wanted to do, widening his eyes. "Oh no! Stop!  _Nii-san_  (1)!" and didn't realize that he had called him  _like that_  again.

It was too late, though, because then Itachi already reached his destination (in front of Naruto) and said, "It's nice to meet you," before he reached his hand to tilt the unsuspecting, dumb-looking Naruto's chin up and then leaned down slowly, planting a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Naruto's eyes literally whitened, probably in utter shock. " _Oh_ ," Itachi blinked.

Sasuke stared at them in horror as Naruto suddenly collapsed, fainting on the ground as if he just had a stroke. "ITACHI!" Yeah, Sasuke kind of freaked out. "You—! Don't just go around kissing people  _like that_!" He didn't know why he felt so… so enraged. Surely, Itachi's conduct was inappropriate to someone he just met, but Sasuke had never felt such fury when he saw his brother kiss someone before, at least not  _like this_.

"Like  _what_  exactly?" there was a teasing tone in his voice. "Jealous?"

Sasuke's face felt like burning now. "Who the hell would be jealous of  _you_!? It's not like I want to kiss Naruto like that! Sasuke was slightly panting as Itachi raised his eyebrow at him.

…

…

And there was a brief silence before- "I was under the impression that you were jealous of  _Naruto-kun_ , though…"

Sasuke snapped and his face would have colored like a steaming lobster if it was possible, his heart beating like crazy as he realized that he was digging his own grave, since he did nothing but humiliate himself in front of Itachi. "SHUT UP!" Well, at least he could still yell disagreeably at his brother despite the shame.

Itachi chuckled slightly then and Sasuke looked upward in surprise because even before he left, Itachi had always been careful in showing his expression. Itachi was usually very detached. Hearing him chuckle was very rare. "You haven't changed, still so foolishly cute."

Sasuke couldn't help but making a frustrated, protesting noise. "It's not like that, you idiot! You've got it wrong! Naruto and I are  _step brothers_! Stop assuming things!"

"Yeah, sure. It's all the reason of giving a greeting kiss to  _my_ step brother such a big deal." Itachi's knowing smirk was very annoying and infuriating. Sasuke wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face.

"Aaaaargh! Shut up already! Stop acting like American! This is JAPAN, you stupid brother! People don't kiss as a greeting  _here_!" and Sasuke continued screeching, spouting out such stereotypical cultural difference that wasn't entirely true, much to Itachi's sheer amusement.

**#**

Yeah, so the meeting with Sasuke's big brother didn't go very well for poor Naruto because he had become a victim of the Uchiha siblings' very weird and awkward confrontation…

**End of Chapter 6**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**Additional notes:**

**1)Onii-chan/Onii-san/Nii-san:** big brother, the way to call an older man.

 **2)Tsundere:** a strange characteristic, a mix of tsun-tsun (cold, distant, mean) and dere-dere (shy, loving, caring). It's like cold on the outside but loving on the inside.


	8. Chapter 7: I Want to Know You More (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confrontation, more characters... and something ugly is coming up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**  
>  **Warning:** _Itachi being a tease, shounen ai, Language, etc…_
> 
> Alright, time to update this story, yeah. So… this is the revised version of chapter 7. Enjoy!

**Chapter 7:** _**I Want to Know You More (Part 2)** _

* * *

" _Nii…"_

" _What is it, Naruto?"_

" _Where are you going?"_

_A young Naruto, barely twelve year old, looked uncertainly at the older, red-haired boy, clenching the hem of his loose purple shirt with trembling hand. The older boy, part of his face hidden behind his long red bang, just smiled rather sadly at him._

" _I'm sorry… Naruto. I'm so sorry…" He kneeled in front of Naruto and gave him a gentle hug. "Take care…"_

_Naruto didn't know why he apologized to him; didn't understand. He didn't do anything wrong, so why did he apologize? Where was he going to go? Why did he bring such a large suitcase?_

" _Nagato-nii?"_

_But then he released Naruto and stood up, tall, strong, determined. He turned around and started to walk away. "Nii!" He didn't look back when he set his foot out of the door, despite Naruto's louder call and his running after the disappearing figure._

" _Nii! Wait! Nagato—!"_

"NII!" Naruto sprang up, gasping, with his hand stretched out trying to reach onto something, but what greeted him were empty air and familiar white ceiling. His breath was shallow, fast, as if he had difficulty in taking the much needed oxygen into his lungs. Perspiration damped his face and hair and it spoke volume of his mental condition since it was still spring, not yet warm enough for him to sweat that much.

Naruto blinked once and twice before putting down his hand on his side, sighing deeply, shuddering slightly, as he paced his respiration, calming his thundering heartbeat.

_A dream…! Fuck. It's been awhile since I dreamt that…_

Naruto closed his eyes before reopening them, taking his surrounding and immediately recognizing the view as his living room. He was in his house and _someone_ was staring at him from the couch across of him.

…

Naruto jumped and shrieked in delayed shock, almost sounding like a little girl in distress as he registered that there was someone with him; long, straight, dark ebony hair, sharp piercing black eyes, totally handsome face. "You—UCHIHA?!" he pointed his index finger at the older man and he only raised his eyebrow slightly at Naruto, looking completely at ease, as if he were in his own home. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"So rude. I am a guest, aren't I?" Itachi gave him a light smirk.

"H-huh? A guest? Wait—!" Naruto furrowed his brow, rather disoriented. "Hold on! What… how come I'm home? Wasn't I at school before?" Some memories were missing from his brain. He knew something happened, but he didn't know what they were. He was still in his uniform and he didn't feel any pain from any injury. Then…

A light chuckle escaped Itachi's thin, luscious lips, gaining Naruto's attention once more. "You are amusing. Are you telling me you remember nothing of our last encounter?" There was a mischievous glimmer in his dazzling eyes and Naruto had to remind himself that this guy was Sasuke's brother and not to stare at him numbly despite his… _figure_. Shit. He resented that Uchiha was so damn attractive!

"Last encounter…" Naruto deepened his frown, thinking distractedly trying to recall what happened when suddenly, a particularly mortifying memory assaulted his mind. "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Yeah, he _had to_ scream, horrified, his face gradually heating and coloring, turning a dark shade of pink. "You— you— me—!" and he couldn't even perform a coherent sentence as he the image of Itachi, leaning _into_ him and _kissing_ the corner of his mouth filling his head.

"No need to freak out, sheesh… It was just a greeting kiss." Itachi huffed lightly, sounding indifferent and totally unremorseful. He even dared to look offended, damn it!

"Who the fuck _in their right minds_ uses a kiss as a form of greeting?!" Naruto had a right to protest, totally appalled, alright. Itachi didn't make any sense at all!

"Family does, at least, in western culture," Itachi pointed out.

" _Not_ on the MOUTH!" Naruto complained further, steaming slightly. He was familiar with western culture. His dad was a foreigner, so a kiss on the cheek or an occasional hug was a repeated occurrence in his household. But a kiss on the mouth was certainly NOT! Did Itachi think he was an idiot or what?

"I am surprised. I thought Japanese people still ignorantly think of foreigner to be… more liberal than them in the term of skin-ship," Itachi tilted his head slightly, apparently thinking that Naruto was a rare specimen for his knowledge.

_Aren't you Japanese?!_ —Naruto stared at Itachi ludicrously before narrowing his eyes scathingly; trying his best not to roar that Itachi was absurd. Instead, he took a deep breath, counted to ten and then slowly muttered 'crazy Uchiha' in low breath.

"Well, Naruto-kun is adorable, so I don't mind." Itachi shrugged nonchalantly.

"I mind it, damn it!" Naruto couldn't hold down his retort, flushing again at the (NOT) compliment of his appearance. Crap. Breathing exercise just got wasted. "Seriously… why are you here? Wait, where is Sasuke?" He then looked around to find his step brother. He wasn't there.

"Note the time. He said he had to go to buy dinner." Itachi casually tapped at his wrist, precisely at his Rolex watch. Rich bastard.

"I see…" Naruto scratched at his head. He was supposed to be the one to shop for grocery, but… oh well. Naruto cooked. At least Sasuke could help by picking out ingredients. "So… really, why is _niichan_ here?"

" _Niichan_ , huh? I like that word." A faint smile bloomed on Itachi's face and it brightened his look and enhanced his _charm_ even more. Damn Uchiha and their pretty faces!

" _Well_?" Naruto was impatient, crossing his arms in front of his puffed chest, trying hard not to be sidetracked by that very nice sight.

"I see, Naruto-kun is quite stubborn," Itachi's faint smile turned into an amused smirk. "No wonder Sasuke seems fixated."

"I have no idea of what you're talking about," and it was true, because Naruto was confused, looking at Itachi as if he was out of his mind.

Itachi blinked once, twice, and his smirk turned rather calculating as he stared meaningfully at him and it gave Naruto a very bad feeling, like Itachi was silently planning his doom. "If you say so," he shrugged and Naruto almost bristled in annoyance. Come on! He was being cryptic to piss Naruto off!

" _Niichan_ … you are testing my patience here," Naruto almost growled, but Itachi just chuckled softly before he stood and moved closer to sit beside him.

"How cute," Itachi praised while pressing his index finger on Naruto's nose, causing Naruto to get Goosebumps all over his skin.

"Stop that!" Naruto slapped Itachi's hand away, his face heating again, his body hair standing on end, totally bothered. Why was Itachi teasing him like that?

"I just can't help it. Naruto-kun's angry face is very adorable, I think," Itachi's smile was genuine and it freaked Naruto out a little bit because Uchiha and sincere smile had never been in the same line before. This must have been some kind of trick. Besides, why would Itachi smile at him _like that_?

" _Niichan_ , you are honestly creeping me out," Naruto couldn't help inching further away from Itachi and the older man made a snorting noise which didn't fit his expression at all because _nobody_ should be that regal when he snorted. No, seriously, it must have been illegal to be that gorgeous.

"Really… Naruto-kun reminds me a lot of Sasuke when he was little. He was also very endearing when he was pouting because I blew up our promise for some kind of… study session." Now, Itachi's smile turned rather nostalgic, his eyes glazed slightly as if he had been recalling the past. Maybe he _was_ since there was a hint of melancholy in his tone.

Great, wouldn't that be very intriguing? Naruto didn't like prying, but he was kind of curious about the history between Itachi and Sasuke. After all, he had seen the photo. In the past, Sasuke could make such free laughing expression, and yet right now, he barely showed any smile. Besides, he also remembered about Sasuke and Itachi's encounter before he passed out.

" _Doesn't matter. The underlined words here are that_ _you left_ _."_

If Naruto's ears didn't play trick on him, he was almost certain that Sasuke sounded bitter when he said that.

"Was he?" Naruto raised his eyebrow totally intrigued. He silently encouraged Itachi to tell him more about Sasuke if the older man wanted to. He could use some information after all. If he wanted to know a bit more about Sasuke, especially his past, then Itachi would be a very reliable source to dig into.

"Yes, he protested a lot because I was hardly around to play with him," Itachi chuckled lightly. "I was rather proud that he looked up to me so much that he wanted me to teach him a lot of things, even though his height barely reached my waist."

"Hmm…" Naruto made noncommittal noise as he leaned against the backrest of the couch once again, relaxing. "You are fond of him," he commented after that.

"Of course I am. I'm his brother," Itachi looked at Naruto rather pensively. They were silent for a few more seconds before Itachi opened his mouth again, asking. "What is he like in school nowadays?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Aside being a total dick all the time?" he asked and Itachi blinked at him once, apparently still surprised by Naruto's potty mouth. "He's a jackass, self-centered asshole that's very proud of his 'Uchiha' name, even though he's an Uzumaki now, since Dad married Mikoto-san— I mean, _Mom_ , but he still publicly calls himself as Uchiha just for the heck of it."

"That's… very colorful language to describe him," Itachi seemed rather taken aback. "Is he that bad?"

"He's the boss of _West Building_ , what do you expect?" Naruto tilted his chin up at him, challenging his opinion.

Now, Itachi looked bemused as he furrowed his brow slightly. "I thought West Building was for the bookworm type of student."

"Exactly," Naruto grinned, accentuating his black _gakuran_ with his thumb and Itachi noticed the gesture and chuckled again.

"Of course… you are the boss of _East Building_ , I should have known." He shook his head slightly. "That is a very biased opinion."

"Indeed, if you ask me about him at school," Naruto nodded sagely.

"What about Sasuke at home then?" Itachi smiled and Naruto snorted.

"Still a complete jerk, he keeps antagonizing me, or me antagonizing him, pot-kettle-black. We just simply don't get along," Naruto shrugged. "But, I do know he also has the quality of a leader. At least he never uses dirty trick when he fights. He's ridiculously smart it pisses me off and he's damned athletic to boot. Sometimes I just think that it's plain unfair to be that fucking 'perfect'. Though, his personality _sucks_ , so I guess it makes up for his physical aspects. I still don't understand why he has fans at all. I mean, he's just so… impassive all the time it's not even funny." Naruto didn't realize he was ranting until Itachi called him for it.

"Is that why you provoke him all the time?"

Naruto halted and glared at Itachi for looking too deeply into things. Sasuke just annoyed Naruto, plain and simple. He surely didn't have any ulterior motive aside to get a rise of Sasuke. "One of **many** reasons," he complied, emphasizing on the _many_ word. "Working Sasuke up is _fun_ after all."

"I bet it is," Itachi gave him another shrewd look.

Naruto scowled, but then decided to ignore that in favor of asking about something else. "So, why didn't you attend Dad and Mom's marriage ceremony, _Niichan_?"

Itachi sighed slightly. "I hadn't been in Japan for a while," he said and Naruto recalled Itachi's and Sasuke's conversation before.

"Six years?"

"Yeah," Itachi closed his eyes. "I was in Los Angeles, studying and working."

"Alright, but you could actually go home for one day ceremony, couldn't you?"

"I wasn't aware that my parents got a divorce. We haven't been in contact since I left, but I bet it was father's fault anyway." Itachi didn't bother opening his eyes as he spoke, as if he was deliberately avoiding Naruto's judgmental look. Well, Naruto wasn't judging, though. He smelled strong reason in Itachi's part to stop contacting his family.

"Bad family breakup, huh?" he guessed loudly and Itachi opened his eyes just to look at Naruto's understanding gaze morosely.

"More like… iron fortress breakdown," Itachi confessed. "I couldn't stand my father's… _Uchiha_ _Family's_ doctrine. He was trying to _control_ my life. So I retaliated. I was tired of becoming his vassal. I thought I would really lose myself if I stayed longer, so I left."

"…Leaving Sasuke behind," Naruto concluded quietly and he almost could see the older man flinch. Or maybe that was just a figment of imagination because Itachi's expression was level, yet his eyes darkened for a brief second, so Naruto's mind's eye couldn't be _that_ far off.

"That was… a regrettable decision that I made," Itachi admitted. "I gave up my responsibility to him. Without telling him anything, I just… left. He must have hated me very much for that." He looked and sounded resigned now.

" _I'm so sorry, Naruto… Take care."_

Naruto remembered someone said goodbye to him several years ago. Someone he adored very much and was important to Naruto. Even though he didn't understand why that person left at that time, he did now. It was kind of paralleled with what happened to Sasuke and Itachi, though the _reason_ behind it was different. Naruto felt that he could commiserate.

"You are a fool if you think that way," Naruto uttered, not looking at Itachi, but he could see in his peripheral vision that Itachi focused his sight on him. "Hate isn't what happened when you spoke with Sasuke today, _Niichan_. That… that wasn't hate." He kept his gaze on the table surface, lowering his eyelids as his thought and consciousness recalled the sensation of the feeling called 'hatred'.

"When you hate someone, you won't want to speak to them or hear their voice. You will want them to disappear and never show up in front of you again. You won't have time being angry because you just want to never have anything to do with them anymore." Naruto sighed before he tilted his face up to look at the ceiling. "You just… want to forget that you have ever known them at all."

"Naruto-kun…" Itachi's voice was quite, unreadable, but Naruto knew he was probably trying to be receptive.

"But Sasuke's reaction to your arrival was nothing like that, right? Instead of leaving the premise, he confronted you. He asked for your reason to return." Naruto then looked at Itachi ruefully. "True, he might have been angry or even resentful, but he is most likely also bitter for another reason. After all, he's still carrying around your photograph."

"Photograph?" Itachi looked surprised and Naruto smiled.

"Yeah. He has it. A pocket photograph of you and him when the both of you were younger, still happily tight and close with each other; I'd never thought he could smile that happily around other people, so he must have loved you very much… and maybe he was wondering why you left at all, still perhaps _is_ upset over it, so he possibly is a little relieved as you've come to see him today, albeit unable to show it on his attitude because he doesn't want you to see him as a weak little brother you left behind once."

Itachi looked officially stunned now and Naruto chuckled, amused that he actually could make Itachi, an Uchiha, show such kind of an expression. "When he lets his guard down, _Niichan_ ought to apologize and tell him the truth. Show him that _Niichan_ is also human, not a perfect being. He's probably just embarrassed to confirm his true feeling."

Itachi was still silent for a couple of minutes, still staring as well before his expression softened and the corners of his lips lifted up slightly in a relieved smile. "Yes… I should probably do that."

Naruto grinned heartily at Itachi then, rather glad and happy that he at least could do something to patch things up between his step brothers.

"I see… so that's how it is."

"Huh?" Naruto looked upward slightly when he realized that Itachi was seated _much_ closer to him than he thought he was, without him noticing it. He had to lean back slightly to look at Itachi's rather… awed face. "I-Itachi-niichan?" Somehow, he felt rather weird out with such close proximity.

"It isn't just physical characteristic that entices him. Your inside is pretty amazing too," Itachi was leaning _into_ Naruto again, his face closing in on his.

Out of instinct, Naruto lifted his hand to stop Itachi's face getting closer, his other one rising up to hold back his chest. "Wh-what are you doing?" A bead of sweat rolled down Naruto's cheek, his entire body warming for no apparent reason. His heart picked up paces in irregular staccato too for god's sake!

"Well, I want to say thank you," Itachi answered, before he licked the gap between Naruto's index and middle finger, causing Naruto to yelp and pull his hand away in hasty retreat, as if they were burnt.

"What the hell?!" Naruto could feel his face burning up through and through. "Stop messing around! Wait—what are you—let go!"

Now Naruto was alarmed as Itachi grabbed the both of his wrists with one hand. _Damn_. He had such big hand. And Naruto was mortified after being diverted only to realize that Itachi had his both hands trapped over his head and somehow, their position was a bit… since when had he been pushed down on the couch with Itachi's languid body looming distractingly on top of him?!

"Uh… Niichan…?" Naruto's head started spin down in the wrong direction as a flash of past memory assaulted him. At the tell-tale of danger, especially to his virtue, he tried to break free, but Itachi's hold on him was too strong even though he looked indolent.

_I can't break free! What strength! Where does he pack such power under that lean, graceful body?!_

"Wait, wait! Time out! What are you doing?!" Red light. Red light at the highest level! Danger! Danger! Danger! Now was the perfect time to start panicking for real.

"Like I said; it's a thank you," Itachi showed him that mild, grateful smile again and even though Naruto could see honesty in his eyes, his way of thanking was so very wrong! WRONG with capital letters damn it!

"N-no, wait… st-stop—!" Naruto turned aside to avoid Itachi's lips on his, but those soft pair of plumps connected to his neck instead and- _holy shit!_ He was about to get violated against his will!

"Hold it! Don't! _Nii_!" Naruto didn't even realize who he was calling at that moment, because Itachi's image overlapped with someone else's when Naruto shut his own eyes in desperation.

_Red hair, violet eyes, big brother smile._

And then there was a surprised, painful yowl and the next thing he knew, Itachi was slumped on top of him, groaning. Naruto quickly opened his eyes which immediately met Sasuke's furious look, his hands holding a big paper bag of grocery that had just collided with Itachi's head and was still there, nesting on top of Itachi's quiet, _unconscious_ (?) body.

"Seriously, I let my eyes off of him just for one freaking hour and he managed to cause so much trouble!" Sasuke rolled his eyes as he kicked his brother's body off of Naruto's still stunned form. His hands were still holding on to the grocery bag until he tentatively put it down on the coffee table.

Naruto blinked once before he sprang up, still in shock, gaping like a fish out of water, flailing at Itachi on the ground, at himself and then at Sasuke in speechless panic.

"Chill out. He wasn't serious. He would have stopped even though I hadn't hit him." Sasuke huffed, muttering obscenities under his breath. "Stop making it a big deal and why didn't you punch or kick him if you didn't want to? Are you a girl or what?"

Sasuke's accusing smirk snapped Naruto out of his flabbergasted distress. "What did you say?! How dare you call me a _girl_!" he shouted indignantly, glaring back at Sasuke, officially insulted, even though he could feel his face heating like a darn furnace.

There was a brief silence in the room as they scrutinized one another before Sasuke snorted. "You called him _Nii_. Since when have you two become so close to each other?"

Naruto blinked again, detecting something in Sasuke's voice that was akin to… _jealousy?_ He was rather confused and perplexed before he scoffed in realization. "What… so you were afraid that I'd snatch your brother away from you, Sasu-chan?" Ammunition was undeniably sweet-sweet firepower. He just had to poke at it.

Sasuke bristled at him like a porcupine, "Like I care!"

Well, that was obviously a lie because his onyx eyes were lit like black fire. It was honestly intimidating, though like hell would Naruto admitted it out loud. Besides, Sasuke might really have a brother complex, but there was also something else hidden in his eyes that Naruto couldn't figure out directed at him.

Though, Naruto didn't have any energy to fight Sasuke at this moment. As much as he wanted a distraction from what had almost happened between him and Itachi previously, he had to talk this out so there was no misinterpretation.

"When do you think Itachi-niichan will be up?" Naruto asked, looking down at the still passing out older guy on the floor, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

"Leave him be. He will eventually come up and about if there's food in the kitchen." Sasuke harrumphed before he turned around and walked away to the direction of the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Naruto called.

"My room. I have home work to do. Call me if dinner is ready."

Naruto could only let out a suffering sigh, grumbling and cursing Uchihas for their overall wackiness and perversion, as he picked up the grocery and headed to the kitchen. "I guess I'll just make that dinner…alone."

He ignored the heavy feeling in his heart at the thought that the misunderstanding just then would bite him in the ass later.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Dinner was… _awkward_ , for the lack of operative word.

Seriously, there was this _thick_ tension in the room, palpable enough to be cut with a pair of scissors. Naruto frankly didn't know what caused this. Well, _alright,_ there was Itachi and Sasuke, seated across of each other in silence. Both didn't make any effort to make small talks. Alright, they were both the quiet type, but honestly, it just got on Naruto's nerves because he was the one who had to endure this very uncomfortable atmosphere when he was dining for god's sake.

He should slap them and make them yell at him or at each other or something. Naruto sighed deeply, completely resigned to be the one starting conversation. "So, how is the food? Do they suit your taste, _Niichan_?"

Itachi turned to face Naruto and gave him a soft smile. "It's very delicious, Naruto-kun. You're talented."

Naruto flushed slightly. He knew he was a great cook, but hearing someone beside his dad saying that was _so_ very nice. It made him giddy, "Thanks…" and feeling bashful. Man, this was weird. Maybe it was because of Itachi's face. Seriously, his resemblance to Sasuke was uncanny. It was as if it were Sasuke who was complimenting him.

Sasuke didn't say anything to that. Well, Naruto didn't ask his opinion, though. "How about you, Sasuke? Good enough?"

"It's edible," Sasuke replied. Such understatement, but Naruto wasn't complaining as long as he finished his food without a fuss.

Then they were back in silence. Naruto grew increasingly antsy. His attempt at breaking the ice wasn't successful at all. Why did he end up eating together with those two again? Oh yeah… Uzumaki's sacred family dinner… Naruto sighed again.

"Seriously, you guys… just say what you want to say to each other, already! This is very depressing! I want to eat in cheerful air!" Naruto complained.

"Then you're welcome to leave," Sasuke retorted nonchalantly and Naruto scowled at him.

_Ungrateful bastard!_ —

"Sasuke, that isn't nice of you, speaking like that to the one that cooks for you," Itachi scolded, looking disapproving.

Sasuke twitched. "That's got nothing to do with _you_."

"But talk about manners…"

"You weren't there to teach me manners, were you?" Sasuke's tone and gaze was razor sharp and Itachi sighed.

"Alright," he mumbled and went quiet again as they continued their meal.

_It really is awkward…_

"So, Itachi-niichan, you stay the night or you have other places to stay today?" Naruto changed the subject in a hurry, not wanting the silence to continue.

"I have a hotel room. My… agency accommodates my staying in Japan quite generously," Itachi answered slowly.

"Your agency? No way, you're a model or what?" Naruto raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

"Actually, I am." Itachi smiled and Naruto whistled, impressed. Sasuke only looked upward once, probably didn't expect that at all.

"But I haven't seen your face around here."

"I mostly work in America and Europe. I don't really appear in Asian magazines or television programs, unless you have international cannels, of course," Itachi confessed.

"Why?" Naruto tilted his head aside, puzzled.

"I'd rather not… have to deal with family issues if they knew about my job."

Sasuke snorted derisively and Naruto glared at him. "If you have something to say to him, say it to his face."

"Not your damn business," Sasuke sniped back and they were growling at each other again.

Naruto clicked his tongue and muttered. "Of course it's my business if I have to suffer in the middle of your cold war."

Sasuke suddenly stood up with such force that knocked the chair back in a clatter as it toppled down on the floor. "You know what, _fine_! So the reason you _left_ home is just so you can become a model?!"

Sasuke was angry. Naruto knew he was, because the younger raven was shouting very loudly.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to _our_ family?! Mother took your leaving very hard! She blamed herself because she thought she wasn't good enough to understand you! You broke her heart! You caused mother and father to fight! She fought for you! She couldn't forgive father for pushing you too much! _You_ break our family apart!"

Sasuke was screaming now. Naruto could see the pain and the anguish there. But what he said couldn't be all what he had to say because there was something glimmering in his eyes; something that was familiar enough because Naruto had seen it countless of time in his dad's eyes whenever Naruto came home battered and bruised after a big fight.

"Why are you quiet?! Why don't you say something, huh?! Was it worth it?! Being famous as a model in exchange of your family?!"

That wasn't what he wanted to say, was it? Naruto hadn't heard anything about Sasuke's own reason to be so resentful. Surely, his mother's heartbreak and broken family were reasons enough to make him angry, but that _pain_ … what had caused that pain in his tone?

"I am sorry," Itachi said softly and Sasuke hissed at him.

"If it's enough with just being sorry, this world won't need any cops!" Sasuke snarled heatedly before he turned around and walked away. "I'm done. My appetite is ruined."

"Sasu-!" Naruto rose and halted as he felt his hand being grabbed. He looked at Itachi who shook his head at him. He sat once again. "Why are you two being so dishonest with each other?" he despaired comically.

Itachi chuckled despondently at that. "It can't be that easy."

"Still! You must have considered the pros and cons of leaving, right? Why don't you tell him anything about what you think?"

"It's better if he lets some steams out first before the heart to heart talk," Itachi reasoned and it made sense, but _God helps him_ , Sasuke chose his words to be hurtful to Itachi. Itachi not reciprocating was just going to worsen his bitterness.

"At least tell him about your limitation as a human, Itachi-niichan. It will probably take time, but as much as I don't want to acknowledge it, Sasuke is smart. He will eventually understand your reasoning." Naruto punched his arm encouragingly and Itachi looked at the hand on his arm before he touched it and looked upward at Naruto, smiling.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke was restless.

Alright, he was totally agitated, like a wild beast ready to pounce on his prey. He just couldn't calm down, and thus paced back and forth beside his bed, completely wound up. He could barely keep a lid on his desire to scream some more over what had happened on the dinner table earlier.

Sasuke couldn't believe that he just lost it like that. No, he should have been better than that. He sounded so whiny and childish and _shit_ —he really couldn't take this anymore. He stopped pacing to sit on the bed. When it failed to calm his nerves, he laid down and stared silently at the ceiling, counting one to ten.

"What in the world was I thinking…?" Sasuke covered his eyes with one of his arms, sighing, trying hard to relax his rigid body muscles. He was still on edge, but it wasn't as bad as before as he thought about Naruto's meddling earlier.

" _If you have something to say to him, say it to his face."_

Naruto was probably trying to push him to confront Itachi about the bottled up resentment he had for his brother these past six years. Knowing Itachi leaving second hand was betrayal enough in Sasuke's mind, and now to hear that his reason for leaving was because Itachi wanted to become a model?! Just remembering it pissed him off all over again.

Besides, Itachi had dared lay his fingers on Naruto. That droved Sasuke up the wall even more. _Anyway, what's up with that obnoxious bastard?! After that kind of thing, he's still flirting with Itachi! Does he know nothing of self preservation at all? That idiotic blond…!_ —he didn't know why it annoyed Sasuke so much. It wasn't like he was worried of his virtue or anything. Heck, why would he be worried about Naruto when the guy was the delinquent one?

" _Don't! Nii!"_

Sasuke clicked his tongue and sat up once again, disconcerted. Furthermore, what's with that name-calling? Nii? But Naruto called him Itachi-niichan earlier and not Nii? Was he actually referring to Itachi when he called out?

_If it's not… who is this 'Nii'?_

Sasuke made a frustrated noise as he decided to stand up and get out of his room to look for fresh air. Maybe he would make hot cocoa and sat down at the terrace stars viewing or something. He was sure he could calm down that way. It never failed before.

Finishing making the drink, Sasuke headed to the front door and proceeded to open it when he noticed that the porch was currently occupied. He sighed in defeat as he recognized the blond hair. Well, it was their home porch, and it wasn't a private space, so Sasuke didn't back off, instead made his presence known by shutting the door soundly as he got out to join Naruto.

Naruto promptly looked over his shoulder and his crystal blue eyes met Sasuke's. "Oh, hey… can't sleep?"

"I'm too worked up to fall asleep," Sasuke admitted as he sipped on his drink before he sat down a couple of feet away from Naruto.

"Is it about Itachi-niichan?"

Sasuke glared at him warningly, not really up to talk about that matter again. It would only irritate him further and betray the purpose of him being out here.

"No need to get so defensive, sheesh…" Naruto lifted his hands as a sign that he meant no harm. "Though, I kind of understand why it's so awkward between you two…"

Sasuke knew that Naruto didn't mean him to hear that last part because he was mumbling vey quietly, but he still heard him all the same because his hearing were sharp. He shot Naruto another exasperated glare, not believing it one bit. Naruto was an only child. What did he know about having a selfish, self-centered brother like Itachi?

"Once upon a time, I also had someone that I looked up to like a brother. Yah, well… he was practically my older brother because that's how my former family works. We were a bunch of brothers, tied by 'oath' despite not being related by blood, ya know?" the corner of Naruto's mouth twitched up slightly, but his expression was rather tight.

Now was he telling Sasuke about his past family? He had heard the rumor about Naruto being an heir of a Yakuza, but he didn't think that it was true. Still, the way he described his family was very close to how the yakuza family ran. That rumor might not be so false after all.

"That guy… he was supposed to inherit the family name, but… let's say, he was too… kindhearted for something like that. So, he left. His responsibilities practically fell into my lap. It wasn't pretty." Sasuke could see the tense tic in the way Naruto looked at everywhere but him when he spoke. Was he trying to make Sasuke feel better or what, by comparing his issues and Sasuke's about their brothers' figure.

"When he left, I didn't know what to do. I mean, I thought it was my fault or something… but that wasn't the case. When I looked at Itachi-niichan and you, I sort of understand what happened, now."

"What happened?" Sasuke didn't realize he was asking aloud and slapped his mouth shut with his hand as Naruto blinked up and stared at him with unreadable expression.

"He's imperfect, _that's_ what happened. He's just human and human has their breaking point. I just realized that he couldn't stand the way our family worked; and since he couldn't change that, he left for good." Naruto seemed to observe his reaction, but Sasuke didn't show him any.

_Imperfection, huh…?_

" _Sasuke, I love you."_

Sasuke remembered how Itachi smiled at him. His kind, charismatic elder brother who always tried his best to live up Uchiha Family name, no matter how absurd it was to answer all his father's demands. Sasuke knew Itachi didn't break his promise because he wanted to, but because he had to. He knew Itachi always tried his hardest, but their father had never satisfied with everything. He pushed and pushed and pushed further, and Sasuke only got the lenience because Fugaku always focused on Itachi's progress.

Once in awhile, Sasuke also wanted such attention from his father. He wished he could monopolize Fugaku's attention for one day without him mentioning how perfect Itachi was. He got what he wanted after Itachi left. It wasn't as nice as he thought it would be. Heck, it was horrible. Such heavy pressure in everyday basis… and then he was compared more and more to Itachi. Day by day he grew to resent his brother for leaving him with such predicament…

And there was his mother crying over Itachi's leaving…

Sasuke indeed blamed Itachi for their parents' divorce. But it wasn't just that. He hated himself a little because he couldn't fill the hole Itachi had left behind. He wasn't enough of a replacement to substitute Itachi. He was never enough. Not in his father's eyes, not in his mother's… it was depressing as hell.

"I was mad at him for a long time, but… I never hate him."

Sasuke snapped back from his train of thought as he heard it. He looked upward to meet Naruto's sheepish look. "I believe if he comes back now, I'll punch him once and after we make up, we'll be the best brothers in history, ever." Now he grinned, and it was so genuine that Sasuke couldn't help loosening his expression into an easy smile.

"I wonder if _he_ will think that I'm childish if I sulk some more…" Sasuke wondered out loud and Naruto snickered.

"If you talk about Itachi-niichan, then you give yourself too little credit. Trust me. He's still carrying your kiddies photograph and treasures the damn thing like a fucking jewel." Sasuke felt warm, squirmy feeling in his chest hearing that. Well, it lasted for seconds until- "Just like how you treat his photo."

…

…

Sasuke's brain cracked in mortification at the reminder of his worry. "You… you _saw_ it, didn't you…?!" Oh, he was horrified. That shitty, cunning Naruto indeed peeked into his pocket photo when he had been cleaning his room!

"Err… oops?" Naruto inched further, looking nervous.

"You-bastard!" Sasuke lunged at him, his face felt like burning in a furnace. Ah, damn it all. He was so embarrassed.

"Whoa! Easy there, asshole! Don't just start attacking people just because you have a brother complex!" Naruto easily dodged his assault, but Sasuke wasn't giving up yet until he could punch the idiotic blond.

"Shut up! DIE!"

Well, at least by releasing his stress by sparring _friendlily_ with Naruto, Sasuke could find a crack, a tiny measly way around his anger and bitterness to forgive Itachi, and maybe… maybe he could start forgive himself too for not being able to notice how pressured Itachi was all the time before he decided to leave.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

A few days later, something happened.

"Shikamaru! What happened?!"

When the brunet showed up at school, he had a black eye and a split lip. Naruto stared at him in horror and Gaara frowned. Kiba whistled in awe.

"Ah… it's not a big deal." Shikamaru yawned indifferently.

"What do you mean by _not_ a big deal?! Who the fuck did this to you?!" Naruto was rather frantic, winching slightly as he examined the wounds. They weren't exactly fresh because the bruising color hard turned slightly dark purple-ish, no longer the angry red one.

"I got into a fight. Don't mother me, Mister. You fight more often than me." Shikamaru huffed, shying away from Naruto's prodding touch.

"Who is it Shikamaru?" Gaara inquired, deadly serious and the others gulped seeing his icy glare.

"No one important." Shikamaru insisted, exasperated, but there was something in his eyes and in his tone that set the alarm off in Naruto's mind.

"Shikamaru… please, who is it?" Naruto didn't let go of Shikamaru's arm, no matter how hard he tugged it, trying to get free.

Shikamaru turned away and proceeded to give Kiba a suffering look and Kiba sighed, seeming to receive the SOS just fine. "Come on, boss. Let the man have his glory once in awhile. You know Shikamaru isn't always the strongest in a brawl. Are you going to take his pride away by ganging up on his enemy?"

Now if he said it like that, it indeed sounded awful. "That's not my intention." Naruto released Shikamaru's arm and the brunet sighed in visible relief as he moved away. "But attacking my gang member when he's not with me shows disrespect to Naruto's gang name. We should at least give this person a 'greeting' for daring to challenge us."

"You're just looking for a fight." Gaara muttered darkly.

"No! It's called self-respect!"

"Yes, yes, give it a rest, Naruto. Home room is about to start." The others quickly dismissed him and Naruto pouted for being blatantly ignored by them. Though, he couldn't help feeling anxious when he noticed Shikamaru whispering something to Gaara. The red head widened his eyes for a split second before his expression was back to his normal, stoic one.

When the lunch break came, Gaara took his bag and went home early.

"Where is he going?" Naruto couldn't help asking as the red head left without saying a word to him. It was weird. He usually said something to him if he had to take care of something outside the school.

"Family meeting?" Kiba offered helpfully.

"Ah, I see…"

But apparently, it wasn't _that_ because he met Kankuro outside his class and the older teen didn't think there was anything like that.

"Maybe he has business with dad. _Meh_ , he's always tight with our old man." Kankuro shrugged.

"Hmm…" Naruto made non-committal noise as he proceeded to go to the backyard to have his lunch, where he found someone he really didn't want to see.

"Urgh," Naruto took a step back as _she_ took notice of his presence.

"Ah, Naruto!" the red haired girl, Uzumaki Karin, waved at him from his usual spot under the sakura tree. Her ruby colored eyes glinted cheerily reflecting the sunlight, while her shoulder-length hair was flowing, lulled by the breezy late spring wind. Though, how she got into his school backyard was beyond him. After all, Karin attended different high school, but she was a _die hard_ Sasuke's fan, even more a fanatic than Sakura and Ino. She practically worshipped the road Sasuke walked on. She was noisy about it too, and the worst thing all was, she happened to be Naruto's distant cousin… from his mom's family.

_An utter annoyance!—_ Naruto clicked his tongue.

"If you're here to moan about wanting to know more about Sasuke again, I swear to god I'll hit you, even if you're a girl," Naruto growled in warning.

"Aw, come on! I can barely meet him since our school is different! The least you can do for this lovely cousin of yours is share some information about him! Please, Naruto… I really need an update about his days!" Karin pleaded.

"Then talk to him directly like a normal person for fuck's sake! You're being creepy by stalking him through a third party, you know! It's seriously bothersome!" Naruto shouted.

"Bu-bu-but~," Karin fidgeted. "I- I know that he's known for being indifference towards girls… I don't know what to say if we're in the same vicinity and-and alone… my brain will melt down! It's impossible! Help me!"

Naruto let out a long suffering sigh at her outburst. "Fine. Sheesh… what do you want to know today?"

_**~Please wait for a moment until Karin is satisfied with her curiosity about Sasuke's daily routine~** _

"So… I met Gaara earlier. He looked like he was about to murder someone." Karin changed the subject to Naruto's sheer relief. If he had to hear about Sasuke's perfect body one more time, he was sure he would barf.

"He always looks like he's about to murder someone." Naruto pointed. It was true anyway.

"Well, he was more murderous than usual, then." Karin shrugged while playing with the end of her hair. "By the way, have you heard anything about your former gang member?"

Naruto froze for a second before tentatively asking. " _Jinchuuriki?_ "

Karin nodded. "They've gone off the grid. Even Kyuubi Gumi is unable to locate the individual personnel. Do you think they're up to something?"

Naruto was silent at that, thinking. "What do you mean they're up to something. Jinchuuriki is done. We've split up and it will always stays that way."

"Hmm…" Karin made noncommittal noise and Naruto was hell curious because she seemed to think about something important.

"If you know something, you have to tell me," Naruto demanded and she snorted.

"You don't get to order me around, Naruto. You're not the boss anymore," she thrust her tongue at him.

"You're still working for Kyuubi?" Naruto was suddenly distressed. He knew she was some kind of informant broker, but she should have been a freelance, not tied to specific group, especially to the Kyuubi's goons. That family was dangerous.

"You do know that most Uzumaki Clan members work for Kyuubi Gumi, right? Even you'd been an heir once," Karin gave him an astute look.

"I just… they are far to dangerous to be involved with, Karin. Seriously, stop associating with them!" He didn't say that he was worried about her safety, but he thought he had said enough because she gave him a small understanding smile.

"I sell information. It's what I do. It doesn't matter if it's Kyuubi or the other families. The danger stays the same."

Naruto scowled at her for being so… so stubborn! Well, it kind of ran in the family blood, that stubbornness.

"Naruto… are you alright now?" Karin then tentatively asked.

"I'm better," he answered warily.

"How about Ku—"

"Don't you dare say that word!" Naruto cut her line curtly and glared at her icily as she sighed.

"Fine. Not a word," she made a zipping motion on her mouth. "Well, I can see that you are better than before. Arashi-san must have taken care of you quite… lovingly," she giggled.

"My dad is the best dad that's ever graced upon the surface of earth." Naruto conceded and Karin snorted again.

"You and your father complex," she shook her head while shoving his shoulder none too gently.

"Shut up. My dad _is_ hot," Naruto showed her his foxy grin and she laughed at that.

Naruto didn't tell her that his old man had remarried. And he sure as hell wouldn't tell her that his new mom was Sasuke's mother. She would go nuts in fan girl's craze if she knew after all. And he feared the consequence. Who knew what she would do? It was possible she would spy on his house like the creepy stalker she was.

"Alright, I better go back to my school or I'll miss the important quiz today," Karin stood up while dusting her skirt and blazer from the falling sakura petal.

"Wait, you haven't told me about the _Jinchuuriki_ activity. Pay your damn fee for your curiosity about Sasuke," Naruto huffed and Karin clicked her tongue.

"You charge fee for that _now_?"

"You're the informant broker, not me. I want information in return of the information I just gave you. It's a fair trade, isn't it?" Naruto challenged defiantly.

Karin let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. I may or may not know that 'Isobu' of Kiri Middle School has been actively gathering member for things I know not about. And there's _probably_ a rumor about 'Choumei' of the red light district gathering some kind of sponsor for a meeting which I know not about either."

Naruto was paling slightly as he heard that.

"Also… I may have heard something about 'Matatabi' of Kumo Senior High School wandering around Konoha City… attacking people."

At that, Naruto snapped up. "Attacking people?!"

"She's like a loose cannon, Naruto. She might strike again soon." Karin gave him a sympathetic squeeze on his arm before she let go and turned around to leave. "You might want to see Utakata for that, or Rossi. They are quiet these days."

With that, she was gone and Naruto bit the inside of his cheek before turning around to go back to his class.

_Is that the reason Gaara left early? He knows Jinchuuriki has been acting up and he decides not to tell me?_ —Naruto was furious. How dare he?! Jinchuuriki was once _Naruto's_. Well, not exactly because the one who gathered them around was…

A chuckle and Naruto shut his eyes in shock at what he just did. _No, no, NO! This can't be happening!_

Naruto ran to the bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloody red. He closed his eyes again in panic and crouched down on the floor, hugging his knees, trying to calm his racing heartbeat.

_Calm down. Calm down. Calm fucking down! That guy is gone! He's not here anymore! Calm down, Naruto…!_ —he could feel his whole body shaking. He gripped at his arm so tightly it was almost painful. He was chanting inside his mind that he could do this. That he was stronger than that guy and that he could control his anger.

A few minutes later of self-mumbling, his heartbeat was back to normal and he could feel the tight knot in his chest unraveling bit by bit. He took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. A couple of paced breathing after that and he was ready to function again.

Naruto stood up slowly. His legs were still wobbly, but he could walk. He got out of the bathroom only to bump into Sasuke.

_Shit… what a timing…!_ —he resisted the urge to groan as Sasuke blinked at him.

"Naruto?"

"What?" Naruto snapped at him involuntarily and Sasuke stared at him a couple of seconds before snorting.

"You look like crap."

"And you're a bastard," Naruto growled at him warningly. He was so _not_ in the mood for this. He barely controlled his anger, damn it.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Now Sasuke looked like he was concerned. Wasn't that new? He only opened up a little to the raven and he was concerned about him _now_?

"Not your business," Naruto pushed through and Sasuke caught his shoulder, raising his eyebrow.

"Pot-kettle-black."

Naruto scowled at him. "This is not about something you can handle, _Uchiha_. Stay the fuck off or else." Yeah, alright, he was being a dick, but come on! He couldn't exactly tell Sasuke what happened, alright?

Sasuke couldn't be involved in this gangster thing. It wasn't safe.

"You…" there was a tic of annoyance on his temple and he seemed about to snap back, but apparently he saw something in Naruto's eyes and thought better of it. "Just don't do anything stupid," he warned before walking off.

Naruto let out a relieved sigh and nodded, though Sasuke's back was on him, so he probably didn't see that. "Someday maybe…"

Sasuke stopped and turned back, "Did you say something?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, never mind…" and walked away.

**End of Chapter 7**

**Tbc…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright… so this is chapter 7. I'm sorry for the very long delay in posting this. God, integrating the new characters and the plot was total hassle *sigh*. Well, what do you think? Too serious? Where's the humor? Well… this is a serious time, so… No worries, more humor and shounen ai-ing will come later *giggles* So, feedback?


	9. Chapter 8: I Want to Know You More (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His friends are in danger! What's Naruto going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer and Warning: _See Chapter 1_**  
>  **A/N:** Sorry for the long wait. Here's another chapter for this re-written story. Enjoy!

**Chapter 8:** _**I Want to Know You More (Part 3)** _

* * *

Kiba was on the way to his school when someone tapped his shoulder and greeted him from behind.

"Are you from Konoha Academy?"

Kiba turned around and blinked once to regard _her_. Yes, it was a girl in a sailor uniform which grey, cloud-patterned skirt he hadn't ever seen before in the area. She was approximately an inch taller than him, with long, light brown hair tied into a loose pigtail behind her head. A beauty, really, she had dark grey eye color with a hint of blue, her eyelashes thick, and her smile was really nice.

Kiba's heart actually skipped a beat acknowledging such gorgeous look. He quickly regained his composure before he could start doing something undignified such like gaping like a fish, and quickly smiled back before replaying "Yes?" rather unsurely.

If his eyes didn't play trick on him, Kiba saw her smile get _nicer_ , the corner of her eyes crinkled as they closed in the shape of u. "I'm glad I can find one before the school starts. I can't really skip classes more than I already have after all," she said, sounding relieved.

"Eh?" Kiba tilted his head aside, confused.

"After all, with only punching a few people from the same school arbitrarily, without any signature _move_ whatsoever won't attract _his_ attention at all," she continued, her smile turning into a light eerie smirk as she opened her eyes once again and it might have been Kiba's imagination, but somehow, her eye color was slightly different from before. It was… lighter, bordering into violet.

_Eh?_ —Now, Kiba was alarmed, but before he could react properly, he felt something hitting his stomach really hard, coupled by a feeling of actually being _stabbed_ with something.

"Argh!" Kiba yowled and widened his eyes in pain while his consciousness wavered before he collapsed, his knees hitting the asphalted road first before his entire body slumped forward. Both his hands covered his _bleeding_ stomach as he crouched on the ground.

_W-wha—?!_ —Kiba couldn't speak as his heart thudded erratically in panic. What he managed to do was groaning agonizingly, trying to stop the blood from flowing too much. Though, from his hazy sight, he could tell that there wasn't actually much blood coming out from the wound because it only seeped slightly from his white undershirt. Just his luck since he didn't button his black _gakuran_ properly.

In his effort to stay awake, he tried to ID his attacker. He moved slightly, breathing heavily and sweating bullets as he looked upward at the girl who licked some kind of spiky metal fist-rings. He saw as she noticed his attempt and her nice smile came back in full force, eyes completely violet then. "Now, I bet he will notice," she said.

_Who the hell is sh—?!_ —Kiba didn't have time to finish that thought as she kicked the side of his head, rendering him unconscious as his vision went dark completely.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Shino was in the middle of his morning jog when heard the excruciating yelp from the junction ahead of him. He looked upward in surprise because he _recognized_ that voice. It was Kiba's. Thinking that his _friend_ (yes, Kiba was his friend even though they didn't wear the same _gakuran_. They were childhood friends, went into the same elementary and junior high school and had been really good buddies since he could remember. Though, they were rarely seen together these days in school because of their different _gakuran_ and opposite _leaders_ ) was in some kind of trouble.

Shino speeded up a bit and arrived at the scene just in time to see a girl in an unfamiliar uniform grab Kiba's limp wrist and start to drag his unmoving body away. "Hey!" and of course he shouted in alarm before she could haul Kiba's body further away.

The girl stilled for a moment and then turned her head around to face him. An almost empty expression greeted Shino and he shuddered slightly seeing the violent glint of her eyes. Then she smiled. "Good morning. Have a nice day," she said, as if it was _normal_ , like she wasn't trying to lug away an unconscious, bleeding ( _holy shit! Kiba is bleeding! What the hell—_ ) body.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?! Let him go!" It was the first time Shino actually lost his cool. He was always calm and composed (everyone said so), but this situation was indeed very disturbing. What did she want with Kiba? What was she going to do to him?

The girl's smile didn't falter, but she glanced down slightly at the deadweight on her right hand. "Oh, yes, him. Is he a friend of yours?"

Shino narrowed his eyes at her, though she probably couldn't see it because of his sunglasses. "What do you want with him?" He asked back, careful not to reveal any connection with Kiba because, if her target was actually Shino (although he had no idea who she was), it would get infinitely worse since she got Kiba in her hand. He couldn't risk Kiba's safety.

"You're kind of rude, ignoring my question like that," the girl chided, but still with her polite smile. "But I guess you're not his friend, since you have different _gakuran_ ," she pointedly shifted her gaze at the clear plastic bag on Shino's arm that indeed contained his school uniform. At the moment he was wearing his jersey and he had planned to change in school later.

"Miss, dragging a wounded person like that will aggravate his injury," Shino tried to talk sense into her. He wasn't sure what happened. She could be trying to help Kiba, but if _that_ was the case, then she was doing a very terrible job at it. He suspected that she was the one that wounded Kiba, though, because he spotted the spiky metal fist-ring on her hand, and the tip of her right white shoe was stained with blood, possibly Kiba's.

"And why should I care about it?" She tilted her head, her smile widening, and Shino twitched, almost actually scowling at her upsetting words. How could she smile like that while saying something completely heartless?

"Because it's a _felony_ , and I will call the police if you don't let him go," Shino warned her gravely, almost snarling to his own surprise.

"My, my… a Good Samaritan then; how rare to meet one these days." Somehow, she looked delighted, but then she dropped Kiba and started to approach Shino.

Shino jerked backward, maintaining suitable distance as he watched her warily. If she really was the one that took Kiba out, Shino couldn't be reckless facing her. Kiba was one hell of a fighter, not as strong as Sasuke or Naruto, but he was stubborn and quite formidable. If not, he wouldn't be in Naruto's gang at all after all.

"How nice, careful and insightful, you seem to have some experience in a real fight. But pity…"

Shino blinked once and was surprised to find the girl nowhere in sight. "Wha—?!"

"You're ten years too early to face me." A voice from bellow warned him, but before Shino could look _down_ , he felt a fist colliding with his jaw hard, lifting his body a few inches from the ground before he was thrown down. A hard kick connected to his chest and he groaned at the intense, sharp pain from both bellow his jaw and the right side of his chest. His ribs were probably bruised by that assault just then.

_So fast and strong! What the hell!?_ —Shino couldn't help cussing inwardly as he could feel a nausea hitting him intensely as his stomach actually protested and rebelled because of the added kick she delivered at him right after he was down. He crouched on the ground, coughing and gasping hard painfully.

"If you meet anyone named Naruto, tell him 'Nii Yugito' is waiting for him at the _usual_ place," she knelt beside Shino and grasped of Shino's top hair, lifting his face and forced him to look at her eyes directly. She took off his sunglasses and reflexively Shino shut his eyes because they were weak against the sunlight. " _Matatabi_ is itchy to shred his face in pieces…"

_Matatabi?! I know that name! That's_ —was Shino's raging thought before he felt another hard punch to his cheek, severing his mind completely and everything rapidly went dark as his consciousness departed.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke was dealing with more paperwork at the school afternoon break. He actually brought a bento this time, courtesy of Naruto. For some reason, these past two days the blond was a bit… off. Well, he was more jittery than usual, hence the cooking and baking spree—he said it calmed him down, even though Sasuke had specifically told him that he didn't eat sweets, and when he asked what was actually wrong, Naruto snapped that everything was fine and peachy.

_As if I couldn't tell. Does he think I'm an idiot or what?_ —Somehow, Sasuke was annoyed at that fact. After all, a few days before Naruto had started to tell him stories about his former family, but now it was like such progress had never happened in the first place. And today the blond was skipping school without telling him anything. _He is building a wall… and creating more distances. I don't know what happened, but…_

Sasuke sighed as he stared at a particular paper. There was a report that some students from the East Building were beaten up by someone. Each beating case was random and there was nothing worth noting aside of they all wore black gakuran. Also, for some reason those victims were unwilling to open their mouth about their assailant.

_What is this? A dispute inside a gang? Is this somehow connected to Naruto's volatile mood? It can't be that he's the one who-…—_ Sasuke frowned before he shook his head, sighing while chuckling slightly, feeling rather silly. _It's impossible. What am I thinking? Naruto almost beat up Neji for insulting his friends in the middle of a classroom. There's no way he would do something that hurt them on purpose. Besides, those guys were attacked outside the school, mostly in the morning before class started or in the afternoon after school was over._

"I just need to add the time for the Executive Committee members to patrol around the school before and after school." Sasuke nodded as he wrote down his suggestion and signed it. Maintaining peace and safety of the school ground was also his duty as the Student Council president after all. He stamped approval on the paper and lifted his head to look at Shino, but he blinked when he was greeted by an empty desk. "Where's Shino?" He turned to Neji who shrugged without moving his gaze from his own paperwork.

"Haven't seen him since this morning," he said indifferently.

"He's absent?" Sasuke lifted one of his eyebrows slightly. Odd. Shino was never absent without notice. "I didn't receive any message of him being not present." He glanced at his cell phone which was on top of his desk. No new mail or message was displayed on the screen.

"None came to me as well," Neji made a half-hearted motion to look for his cell phone and sighed as he seemed unable to find it on his pockets. "I think I left my cell phone in my locker." He stood. "Let me check it out."

But before Neji could leave, someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Sasuke said and the door opened to reveal Itachi.

"Hey, little brother," the older Uchiha greeted with a small smile and Sasuke straightened his back, scowling at him.

"What do you want? I'm busy," Sasuke narrowed his eyes in prudence, but Itachi was apparently not discouraged to enter the room.

"I just came to play. I missed this school," he said, shutting the door.

"Oh, are you by chance Uchiha Itachi, the ex-president of Konoha Academy Student Council, who was recorded as _the best_ SC president in Konoha Academy history?" Neji suddenly blurted, widening his eyes, looking absolutely astounded for seeing Itachi in the flesh.

"I don't think I was _the best_ SC president in Konoha Academy. My senior did a greater job than I did, and I'm sure there's someone better in doing that job too nowadays," Itachi gave Neji a feeble smile.

"Right, nice idea to give me an insult," Sasuke scoffed, deepening his scowl.

"Sasuke, it isn't a sarcasm to offend you," Itachi gave him a slightly saddened look and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I really do believe that you can do a better job than I could. I was never a leader of West Building when I was a president of Konoha Academy SC. But you… you do both titles just fine, right? It's a proof that you're better."

Sasuke blinked as he felt the flush of warmth threatening to rise on his cheeks. But, since he refused to feel _that_ happy with the compliment, he just averted his gaze away. "Doesn't matter. So, why are you here exactly?" He repeated, wanting to distract his elated sentiment.

"I just want to see you. Can't I visit my little brother if I don't have any business?" Itachi smiled again at Sasuke and it looked so genuine such that flush of warmth on his cheeks turned into a full-fledge, uncontrollable, blazing heat.

_Why is he saying such embarrassing thing with a straight face?! Seriously, this guy…!_ —Sasuke coughed once, still not facing Itachi, but his face must have blushing red like a tomato because he could see Neji gawk from his peripheral vision, even Itachi chuckled slightly, not making any effort to hide his amusement at Sasuke's reaction.

"All right, fine, jeez! Stop saying such embarrassing things already!" Sasuke snapped, getting even more flustered. He couldn't believe just a few praising and heartfelt words from Itachi still could have effect on him like that, such difficult gratification mixed with irritation. "Seriously, shut up!" He glared daggers at Neji as the older boy seemed about to comment on his behavior.

"I haven't said a thing!" Neji groused in indignation.

"Anyway, okay, you can hang out here all you want." Sasuke turned back to look at Itachi. "But don't distract me from my work," he presaged.

"No problem." Itachi nodded, seemingly satisfied with the arrangement.

"I'll just go get my cell phone then…" Neji rolled his eyes, giving Sasuke a ridiculous look before he got out of the room, shaking his head.

Sasuke huffed, sat back on his chair and started to look at his paper again. He tried to concentrate on his work as Itachi walked around inside the SC office, making eye at old to new pictures hanging on the wall and at trophies and medals on the sideboard. Of course, the older Uchiha was quiet in his activity, fulfilling his promise not to disturb Sasuke, and yet the younger couldn't exactly ignore his presence all the same.

Despite being calm and serene, Itachi had a strong presence. It was kind of a given due to his work nature. He was a model for God's sake. Of course he had amazing stage presence that forced people to turn their heads to look at him whenever he was near their vicinity. It didn't help that Itachi was very good looking. Besides, Sasuke himself had questions he was dying to ask that had him involuntarily peek at Itachi time to time as well.

Itachi apparently noticed his curious glance and once again turned to him with an indulgent expression. "What do you want to know, Sasuke?"

Sasuke honestly hated him at that moment for being so perceptive. How the heck could he know that he wanted to ask him something anyway? He muttered in annoyance under his breath while looking the other way, before he harrumphed and stared directly into Itachi's kind eyes. "How is America?"

Itachi seemed surprised, apparently not expecting such kind of question from him. He just blinked once before the corner of his lips twitched upward slightly again. "If you're asking about _my life_ in America, then it's quite amazing. It can be tough sometimes, balancing between my studies and works. But, with adequate time management, it's a solvable problem. Plus, I'm never bored there, so I'm quite content with my life."

"I see," Sasuke looked down at his paper once again. With the pleased way Itachi spoke, he could almost imagine Itachi's exciting, hectic life there. Still… for _that_ Itachi to be so happy, it must have been quite a free, fulfilling life. "So, model, huh? Don't tell me it's actually really your dream life." Sasuke eyed him shrewdly.

"Well, no actually. That wouldn't be my first choice of life, but… since it paid well and I needed the financial support at the time, I didn't think twice when I got recruited by my modeling agency. After an audition to model for a women magazine and I got it, the job offer never seemed to stop after that. By the time I realized, apparently, they already labeled me a supermodel." Itachi gave him a rueful smile.

"As expected, hearing the way you succeed something without much effort pisses me off," Sasuke felt cheated somehow. Of course, there was also a surge of pride that his brother was that good, but it still annoyed him very much that many opportunities seemed to fall on his laps just like raindrops from sky. Damn him.

"Rude. It's not without effort." Itachi crossed his arms in front of his chest, tilting his body aside and lifting his hip on one side. His stance was relaxed yet in style, and it was very attractive even in Sasuke's eyes. "Showbiz world isn't that easy. There are no real friends, you know? You have to constantly look at your back lest they decide to stab you from behind. It's a very competitive world," he explained, his expression bordering into petulant, but he still looked very regal in doing such impression.

"What is that? An afternoon television drama?" Sasuke deadpanned at him.

"Too bad, I don't play any drama series," Itachi said coolly and it drove Sasuke up the wall how unruffled and unfazed Itachi was at his jab. He couldn't believe that he just sassed him like that in retaliation.

"So, you don't have any friend then. My condolences," Sasuke might have slammed the stamp on the paper a bit too hard, but at least he didn't yell at Itachi again. He counted that as a win despite the traitorous sliver of worry that Itachi was, perhaps, feeling lonely.

"Ah, but I do have friends. Just a handful, but they are quite interesting. Well, my manager and some of my colleagues are also quite nice. I'm well taken care of." Now Itachi's smile widened a fraction.

"Good for you," Sasuke then ignored him in lieu of making progress on his paperwork. Lunch time was almost over and he had to get back to class after that. He'd like to finish his afternoon duty now so he could take his time a little bit easier after the school was over.

Itachi seemed to deem that the conversation was over because he didn't say anything else. Or, he just knew that Sasuke needed to work and decided to wait for him to continue the conversation later. He got back to looking at the pictures to pass the time, and Sasuke felt that such silence between them wasn't as awkward as he thought it would be.

_Itachi has never been a talkative kind of guy to begin with, so it's understandable. It used to be me filling this silence with chatter about school and extracurricular activity, or about my friends…—_ Sasuke blinked. _Right… Itachi never talked about himself before. Why didn't I ask him anything anyway? Whenever we were together, I was the one hogging all the conversation…_

Sasuke somehow felt rather responsible as he chased the rabbit down the memory lane. He should have asked about Itachi's days more; should have listened to his story once in awhile instead of doing all the talking. Then… then he might understand his brother better, then he might have been able to prevent Itachi from leaving.

_Such futile thought… it's already too late, isn't it? Regret always comes overdue after all_ —Sasuke couldn't help chuckling bitterly at that. He didn't think Itachi heard it, but who knew? Itachi was always good in hiding his own feelings after all.

_I kind of wish…_

"Itachi…"

… _to fix all the mistakes I've made…_

"…that you'd call me _niisan_ again, Sasuke."

"Eh?" Sasuke looked upward, startled, when he caught part of Itachi's words. Apparently, he had been too preoccupied with his own thought that he didn't realize that Itachi had been speaking to him. Itachi already looked at him again and tilted his head slightly aside, his gaze inquisitive.

"Rather than calling me by my name," Itachi repeated, "I'd like you calling me _niisan_ again."

Sasuke blinked once, twice, before flushing red like a boiled lobster. "W-wh-why would I want to call you like that again?! You're Itachi! So I'd call you that!" He stood up and shouted, getting very horrified, and— why the fuck was his heart beating so fast?!

Itachi huffed out a small laugh. "Sasuke's reaction is always so cute," he said as much, causing Sasuke to blush harder.

"Shut up!" Sasuke was about to yell at him some more because Itachi was making fun of him. However, before he could, the door to the office was slammed open; ultimately surprising both him and Itachi, as Neji frantically barged in with apprehensive look.

"Sasuke, there's a problem!" he cried out.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke, already forgetting his ire towards his brother, asked Neji concernedly.

"Shino is injured and hospitalized!"

"Eh?!"

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"Naruto, it's been awhile." A young man with neck-length, straight, dark-brown hair, in his early twenties, sat leisurely on the terrace of a Japanese styled house facing a small _koi_ pond, leaning his back against the sliding door frame, one of his hands holding a smoking pipe in silver color. He wore a plain light-blue colored _yukata_ which was loosely open on the chest area, and he didn't face Naruto when he spoke to him.

_Like usual, he seems to have eyes on his back—_ Naruto thought gingerly. Unlike his other former Jinchuuriki members, Utakata was very stable. He was always calm and never gave a chance for his… _other half_ to surface. Utakata never showed _him_ off or talked about _him_ , but everyone (in the group back then) knew _Saiken_ was there, under the barrier of his tranquil personality.

"Indeed. Good to see you again, Utakata."

"Why are you here? I thought Jinchuuriki was disbanded last winter," Utakata spoke again right after Naruto acknowledged his greeting.

"Uh," Naruto said, feeling convoluted on how to bring the subject up. "I heard… a rather disturbing rumor about some of Jinchuuriki members."

Utakata's movement paused mid putting the pipe on his mouth. He turned aside slightly, regarding Naruto with his visible chocolate colored eye that wasn't covered by his long bang. "So I've heard," he drawled slowly.

"You know something too?" Naruto looked upward at him directly, hopeful that he probably had more information about it. "Tell me, Utakata. What's happening with Yagura, Fuu and Yugito? Why are they… doing what they are doing right now?"

Utakata stared at him in silence for awhile, maybe just a few seconds, but it felt longer before he opened his mouth again. "Why should I tell you? You made it perfectly clear that you didn't want to have anything to do with _us_ anymore the last time you saw us."

Naruto winced guiltily at that. He knew he would have to deal with this _issue_ eventually, but he didn't think it would be this early. It wasn't even half a year since the group _breakup_ after all.

"Because… even though we aren't in the same gang anymore, you are all still my friends and I can't let you guys do something that endanger yourselves and the people around you." Naruto clenched his fists around the material of his pants on his thigh, since he was sitting in _seiza_. He looked down, worry and regret mixing in his feeling.

Utakata didn't say anything to that. The growing silence was starting to feel heavy and awkward, but before Naruto could make another attempt to convince the older man to tell him something, _anything_ at all, someone knocked at the wooden part of the sliding door from the other side of the room.

Naruto turned around and a girl, probably in her early teen, with shoulder-length, light brown hair, opened the door slightly and smiled at him when she noticed him. "I'm sorry for disturbing your discussion. I bring tea," she said lightly before she picked up the tray beside her and stood to take the drinks inside and serve them on the lower table in front of Naruto.

"Thank you, Hotaru," Utakata softened his expression as he spoke to her and she blushed slightly in delight.

"You're welcome, _Shishou_ (1)," Hotaru nodded before she hurried herself to leave with spring in her steps.

" _Shishou?_ " Naruto glanced at the closed door now and then at Utakata rather dubiously.

"I'm training her some techniques to defend herself from _bugs_ in the city," Utakata explained in a deadpan and Naruto decided he didn't want to know about those _bugs_ further. He could imagine what those stood for, though. Poor them… not knowing what would hit them if they made a wrong move to the girl.

"She must be quite precious to you then, if you even consider teaching her anything at all," Naruto took the cup on the table and stared at the green tea inside, before taking a sip from it. He knew how secretive Utakata was about his fighting style. He had never showed all his cards in his fight and he didn't really need his other half to win a battle. He was that strong. But he was also introverted and always avoided people whenever he could. It must have been big for him to let someone else in.

"Is that a threat?" His eye color changed slightly into the color of red soil, as his voice began to sharpen, turning icy, and Naruto wouldn't dream of being on the receiving end of that _tone_ before, but now….

"Of course not, I merely pointed something out," Naruto raised the both of his hands in front of his chest, meaning no harm. "I'm just glad that you find a-… a purpose in life this time, Utakata. So, you aren't lost anymore." He smiled now, showing him that Naruto was glad with his progress.

Utakata's eye color changed back to his original dark color and he visibly relaxed as he sighed. "She's still a brat, though," he muttered, but his expression turned lighter and there was a twitch at the corner of his mouth. He seemed quite pleased then.

Naruto widened his smile before it turned into a wide grin. "Coming from you, I'd bet it's pretty special."

"Zip it," Utakata sent him an irritated glare and Naruto just laughed as he noticed the slight hue on his cheeks.

"Alright, _sheesh_ …" Naruto shook his head lightly. "So, about Yagura, Fuu and Yugito. What's up with them? I heard Yagura was gathering _people_ and Fuu was gathering sponsor, and the most troubling thing is that, Yugito started to _attack_ people." Naruto was back to his original purpose in visiting Utakata, speaking dismally. He hadn't actually made a connection between some black _gakuran_ students of his school getting attacked by someone and rumor about those three's worrying activities, but he had his suspicion.

"You might want to start referring them 'Isobu', 'Choumei' and 'Matatabi' instead of their real names. They sure as hell behave like their other halves these days," Utakata replied after putting his pipe down on its respective place beside him. "Isobu and Choumei at least move rather discretely, gathering support first before starting anything remotely dangerous. But their intention was unknown and it was indeed perturbing. Each of them is charismatic enough to seize a lot of followers, especially to those no good society trash that had nothing to do in their life and are lost enough to get enticed by them. Matatabi, though… I think she moves more for personal reason," he started to speculate and it always stunned Naruto how he _could_ speak like that once Utakata was over the awkward silence.

"She attacks people," Naruto nodded.

"Specific people," Utakata corrected and Naruto raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Didn't you notice that the attacking case around here seem to concentrate on Konoha Academy students? Especially, the black _gakuran_ wearer," he continued and Naruto widened his eyes then.

"It was Matatabi's doing?!"

"Don't tell me you really don't know. It's on the newspaper," Utakata gave Naruto a ridiculous, slightly exasperated frown, as if mouthing _'Are you for real?'_

"Well, I don't read newspaper," Naruto defended himself rather petulantly and Utakata sighed.

"Of course, I remember that. But didn't they report to you? Aren't you their boss?" Now, Utakata crossed his arms in front of his chest, positioning his body in a way to not only stay relaxed but also face Naruto properly.

"They refused to speak up," Naruto furrowed his brow. That was true. Ever since Shikamaru showed up banged up and didn't want to announce his attacker to anyone, including him, some students started to show up in various states of injury as well the following days. But no matter how much he cajoled them to tell him what was going on, they clammed up, like someone else had already planted the impression that telling Naruto would only worsen the situation (or their condition, as if it were an ominous threat).

"That's odd. Usually subordinates will immediately report to their boss if something threatens them. That's the point of having a group after all, to protect them from individual attack," Utakata commented with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure no one interferes with your leadership? Sometimes a concerned friend will try to shield you from this kind of thing because they don't want you to get worried."

Gaara's face immediately fleeted through Naruto's mind. Well, he was acting strange these past days, always making excuse that he had something to do and leaving the school early after that. Maybe Gaara was doing something dangerous behind his back as well, but Naruto just didn't want to suspect him like that. Gaara was his friend. He was the only former Jinchuuriki member that knew exactly how Naruto felt about himself and his _other half_. Also, when _that guy_ disappeared last winter, Gaara was the only one that witnessed the fallout between Naruto and _him_.

_Maybe he's worried that making contact with other Jinchuuriki members will somehow bring the horrible memory back for me. Sheesh… he's always so overbearingly protective, that eyebrow-less, Tanuki bastard!—_ Naruto scowled at the thought. Did Gaara think he was so weak that he couldn't handle his own friends from _his_ time? He was underestimating Naruto's self preservation too much.

"I take it you have someone in mind." Utakata's voice brought Naruto back from his reverie.

"I do actually," Naruto sighed in resignation. "But getting angry at him won't bring me close to solve this problem. What do you suggest I do with Isobu and Choumei? They hardly listened to me even when I was their boss. I don't think they will take my request to stop whatever they're trying to do kindly."

"They listen to Rossi and Han, though," Utakata shrugged.

Naruto stared at him thunderstruck, open mouthed.

"What? It's true. Rossi and Han always take care of us like parents in the group. They are wise and powerful. You became our boss once only because they liked you enough, right? You being the _heir_ of Kyuubi got nothing to do with how you're able to lead us at all, you know." Utakata huffed.

"I'm still torn whether I want to blush or cry for that," Naruto covered his slightly flushing face with both palms now. "I was really happy, you know… being with you guys." He didn't miss the way Utakata smiled sadly at his confession.

"But you decided to leave us anyway," and Naruto would have flinch if not for the understanding tone in Utakata's voice.

"And I never regret that decision," Naruto sucked a deep breath before uncovering is face and putting down his hands once again on top of his lap, exhaling sharply. "I was happy… but I wasn't free. _He_ took control of me every so often I nearly disappeared. I don't ever want to feel that way ever again. I just… can't handle it." If his fists were shaking slightly, Naruto just ignored it and if Utakata noticed anything, he didn't mention it as well.

"I know," Utakata said. "You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"Utakata… aren't you disappointed in me?" Naruto didn't dare to look at Utakata's face at this point, because he perfectly understood if he was, indeed, disappointed. After all, in a way, Naruto had betrayed him, _them_ , by leaving.

Utakata didn't say anything for a few minutes and Naruto grew dejected that it was probably like what he had thought. However, he wasn't prepared when Utakata moved to sit right in front of him and then reached out to put his index finger bellow Naruto's chin, pushed it up and forced him to look directly into Utakata's eyes.

"We are friends, aren't we?" he asked and Naruto's breath hitched slightly as he leaned in and gave Naruto a light kiss on his forehead. "You saved me once, gave me a purpose to live in this world when I was lost and scared and alone. You offered your hand to me and asked me to be a part of your family once, and I've never regretted taking that hand." Now he moved his hands on the sides of his head and rested his own forehead on Naruto's, closing his eyes and smiling slightly. "For me, personally, you never did anything that let me down. I am just always sorry at the fact that _I_ couldn't help you with your darkness."

"Utakata…" Naruto also closed his eyes, relishing in the warmth of Utakata's palms on his cheeks.

"If you feel saved after you left, then that's what I want you to do. As long as you can live in contentment and happiness, Naruto, then that's all I ask." A nice, comfortable, reassuring smile bloomed in Utakata's face, the kind of smile that he reserved for people that really mattered to him and how blessed Naruto felt at that moment for being able to generate it from him.

"Thank you, Utakata… Thank you." Naruto was forgiven unconditionally by this man and he felt relieved beyond belief.

"I'll help you contact Rossi and Han to handle Isobu and Choumei, since I'm still talking to them both anyway. And as for the problem with Matatabi," Utakata said after he released his hold from Naruto. "Isn't there someone who knows exactly how to handle her?"

Naruto blinked at him once and a light bulb sparked in his mind immediately. "Ah," he punched his own palm in realization.

"I'm sure Bee-san will be happy to see you," Utakata patted his shoulder and Naruto grinned at him favorably.

"Sure he will. I'm his favorite after all!" Naruto barked a light laugh at that and Utakata just shook his head while throwing him a look of fond exasperation.

**#**

"Thanks a lot for helping me, Utakata," Naruto said as he prepared to leave. Utakata and Hotaru sent him off to the front door. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Just remember to visit once in awhile when you don't have any problem, okay? Or I'll think you'll only see me when you want to ask for help," Utakata warned.

Naruto grinned foxily at him. "Be careful of your wish. Maybe I'd come just to create trouble for you next time!" He laughed while waving at him. "See you around, Utakata! Hotaru-chan!"

"Cheeky brat," Utakata scoffed lightly before waving back at him and Hotaru giggled beside him.

"But you really like him, _Shishou_! He's an interesting boy," Hotaru responded to his endearment with a chipper voice.

"Yeah well… he's an okay kid," Utakata couldn't help smiling slightly at how true it was. Naruto was actually a good boy, a perfect opposite of _his other half_.

" _He's just too good to be in this business, but I can perfectly cover for him whenever he's feeling weak."_

Utakata felt somber as he remembered the one conversation he had ever had with _that man_. He spoke in such deprecating tone about Naruto, but his eyes… _I'm just never sure if that was merely my imagination because of the dim light, but those bright crimson eyes… looked very gentle when he mentioned Naruto's name…_

"I honestly don't know what happened between them," he unconsciously said it out loud and Hotaru looked at him with a curious look and a tilted head. "But I'm just not convinced that it was because _that man_ tried to takeover Naruto completely."

"Eh?" Now Hotaru looked confused and Utakata sighed.

"Never mind, I'm just talking to myself. Let's get inside. I want to look over your training." Utakata opened the door and Hotaru just smiled cheerily at him.

"Yes!" Then she followed him inside before sliding the door shut.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

Naruto turned on his cell phone, intending to call Bee when his cell phone suddenly vibrated and then rang. "Huh" Naruto looked at the caller ID and was surprised finding Sasuke's name. "Urgh, he isn't about to lecture me for skipping school is he?" Naruto made a face at the screen before he sighed and punched the 'yes' button to accept the call.

"Hello."

" _Naruto! Where the hell are you?!"_ —Sasuke's voice hollered at him through the earpiece very loudly such that Naruto had to bring it away from his ear or risked permanent damage to his hearing. _"I've been trying to call and text you numerous times, asshole! If you're away, turn your damn phone on!"_

"I have important meeting outside school today, Sasuke. And it can't be interrupted, so excuse me for trying to be polite and _turn off_ the offending device once in awhile. What do you want anyway?" Naruto was half resigned that he had to hear Sasuke bitch at him from the phone despite his excuse, but what he heard perplexed him instead.

" _Whatever. Can you go to Konoha Central Hospital as soon as you're free from your business then?"_ —his voice was still sharp, but the volume was reasonable now.

_Huh?_

"Konoha Central Hospital? What for?"

" _Shino has been attacked and now is hospitalized there."_

Naruto's blood drained from his face. "W-wha—?! Why _Shino_?! He's wearing _white_!"

" _So, you've known that the numerous attacks on our school students lately had been focused on black gakuran students, at least until today."_ —Sasuke concluded and Naruto cringed slightly at the grim tone. _"When are you going to tell me this? I'm the Student Council President, Naruto! I have to know these things! It can affect our school image and involve the whole student body! It's my goddamn business too!"_

Boy he sounded mighty pissed off now. Naruto exhaled loudly and scratched his head curtly. "Alright, alright, I was at wrong for not informing you about it. But in my defense, I only realized the connection between the attack and me just now. What about Shino? Is he okay? Is he hurt badly?" He was trying to sound calm, but his heart thudded too hard and too fast. He reminded himself that couldn't panic now.

" _Mild concussion, bruised ribs, bruised stomach and bruised jaw. Luckily, no internal bleeding or it could have been worse. Now can you come here or not?"_ —Sasuke informed with a huff.

"Wait. Why am I needed there?" Thank god Shino wasn't hurt too badly. But man, Naruto felt bad as hell that Shino was involved somehow, even though he shouldn't have been. He would apologize to him properly later.

" _He refused to speak about his attacker to anyone but you."_

Naruto was bewildered now even as he ran to the direction of the hospital. "Why?" But someone was willing to speak about it to him. He guessed that Gaara hadn't made any intervention yet, so Shino would most likely speak up.

" _I honestly don't know. His parents pressured the school to report this attack to the police, but Shino held them back because it someway involved Kiba's safety. I don't even know what that means."_

"Kiba?" Naruto was getting more worried now.

" _Just… get here soon! Before we really have to involve authorities because it can get very ugly very fast now,"_ —Sasuke grunted.

"I'm on my way. Stay on the phone with me and tell me where to go." Naruto speeded up his run and hurried inside the hospital as soon as he arrived, following direction from Sasuke to the room where Shino was hospitalized.

**#**

"Shino!"

Naruto's voice was heard at the same time as the door was opened to reveal the blond who seemed rather upset. Both Sasuke and Neji leveled Naruto with looks, the former curious and the latter annoyed. Shino himself was quite composed on the hospital bed. White bandage was visible from between the gap of the soft-green hospital gown that he wore, on his collar and his body sides, and the sunglasses were missing from their usual place on his nose bridge.

Looking closer, Shino had a very light irises color of pale green. The blind on the curtain was down and the room was dim lit to accommodate Shino's weak vision. He looked sickeningly pale and there was a hint of pain in the way his facial muscles twitched every so often. Yet, he had refused the use of pain killers earlier because he needed to be awake.

"I've been waiting for you, Naruto," Shino said shortly.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto approached the bed, apparently to check on him more closely.

Shino shook his head negatively at the same time as -"Of course he's not. Are you blind?"-Neji said brusquely, but Naruto seemed to ignore Neji and only stared at Shino anxiously.

Sasuke just sighed. "Now he's here. Talk." He turned to face the tall boy on the bed and Shino gazed at Naruto for a few moments before he turned to Sasuke to respond to his request.

"I'd like to speak alone with Naruto."

A vein popped out of Sasuke's temple. "Are you kidding me? You're joking, right? This is ridiculous, Shino!" Sasuke raised his voice, impatient. He had had enough of his stubbornness. He didn't know why Shino insisted on staying silent the whole time he tried to coax any answer about the attack and it was driving him crazy that Shino seemed to trust Naruto more than him with that information.

"Sasuke, maybe you should step outside first," Naruto suggested quietly.

Now, Sasuke was just aggravated as he turned to glare at Naruto. "You—"

However, before he could give Naruto a piece of his mind, Naruto cut him. "Look, there's a reason our school is divided into black _gakuran_ and white _gakuran_ , Sasuke." His voice sounded so grave that it halted Sasuke's mind process. He took a deep breath and counted to ten to calm his temper before grunting at him tersely.

"Explain." Because Sasuke had never heard another _reason_ aside the official one of 'white for good kids and black for bad kids', and Naruto seemed to have the answer.

"Black _gakuran_ exists to deal with _this_ kind of thing," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke somberly.

Sasuke waited for him to continue, but he didn't seem about to add anything, so he clicked his tongue edgily. "Elaborate."

Naruto visibly sighed, looking slightly wound up. "Sasuke, you must have noticed too why our school has never got any complain from the city for decades after it was built despite the strange and unorthodox school system and the frequent mess the students cause _inside_ the school, right?" He looked at Sasuke, as if he was challenging Sasuke for his own knowledge of their school.

"Of course I do. It's because the school system _works_ despite being odd. What that has got to do with _this_? I'm trying to keep it that way too, you know. But I can't do that if _my_ own people refuse to _help_ me!" Now Sasuke scrutinized Shino who shifted rather uncomfortably on his bed.

"The school system that divides the students into category of 'students who follow rules' and 'students who bend rules' has the same big objective," Naruto continued, as if he didn't regard Sasuke's rebuke. "They create 'faces' for the school to fend off public general ideas about strictly elite schools."

Sasuke pressed his lips thinly, frankly rather surprised with Naruto's words. "What do you mean 'strictly elite' schools?" He asked, for once genuinely inclining to listen to his mortal rival slash step brother.

"Elite schools, as you see, make a name through good, brilliant students, like the students in West Building. Our school does that too through you guys," Naruto gestured to Neji and Sasuke. "But that's not just it. You can always be the good kids, as long as we, the East Building students, do our role in creating that image."

"What?" Sasuke blinked.

"Why do you think our school has never been involved in any brawl with another school's students?" Naruto asked. Then Sasuke snapped, widening his eyes in disbelief as he put two and two together.

"You guys…?!" He actually gaped at Naruto in shock.

" _We_ handle that part. In private." Naruto nodded. "All the depravity of school life that can threaten you 'white _gakuran_ ' students' progress in achieving academic honor and successfulness in public eyes; 'black _gakuran_ ' students take care of that. True, we might have resented you white _gakuran_ quite a bit and often prank you guys _inside_ the school. But outside, we _protect_ you guys from any menace that might _hurt_ you physically, mentally and even your image."

Sasuke was totally speechless. Even Neji couldn't seem to find his voice as he heard everything. Shino didn't seem surprised, so he might have…

Oh, for God's sake! Of course Shino knew! He was the head of Executive Committee that most often dealt with rule-breakers! Of course! How could Sasuke miss this for so long? He was his subordinate in Student Council body for months now, how could Sasuke be so ignorant of it all? He had never had any the slightest idea of why their school system was built like that in the first place. To think that such _deep_ and _ruthless_ reason was behind it all…

_What are those teachers, principal and board directors thinking?_

"…and _this_ problem should be handled by 'black _gakuran_ ' students." Naruto's voice snapped Sasuke out of his self-berating, and he noticed as Naruto looked at Shino with a very apologetic look. "I'm really sorry you got involved in this, Shino."

Shino shook his head. "I knew I shouldn't have been, but I just couldn't help myself." There was a hint of distress in his tone and he glanced at Sasuke pleadingly. "I need to speak with Naruto, _please_." He even bowed his head slightly to Sasuke and how the hell should he _react_ to such desperate gesture to make him leave except to _leave_?

Sasuke sighed deeply and covered his face with his palm for a moment before he decided. "Fine. I'll let Naruto handle this, but!" He narrowed his eyes at Naruto seriously now. "Full report about this case has to be on my desk by _Monday_ ," he warned.

Naruto seemed relieved when he conceded, albeit reluctantly and blithely. "Don't expect me just to report to you. I'm not your subordinate, Sasuke- _teme_!"

Sasuke promptly ignored his petty complaint as he pulled Neji to go outside. "Let's go, Neji."

"Sasuke," Naruto's calling voice stopped him on the doorstep, but he didn't turn his head around as Naruto continued, "Thanks for not prying."

Sasuke could read that _this_ , somehow, was probably deeper than the fact about 'white and black gakuran' roles inside their school system. He just felt that it was possibly a personal matter for Naruto, but right now, he would deem it sufficient to value it ostensibly like that.

"Like I said, full report by Monday," Sasuke replied dismissively as he closed the door. He leant his back against it as soon as he was out of Naruto's sight and looked upward at the ceiling. Inwardly, he wished he could be more involved to help. Silently, he hoped that Naruto would trust him more and would personally tell him about this problem that seemed to distraught him for days on end.

"Sasuke, are you buying all of this and letting them do as they please?" Surprisingly, Neji's tone was protesting. He was Sasuke's senior and was very famous on following rules to the letters, but at this moment, he looked very rebellious and there was a spark of deviance in his tone.

"Like hell. We're just going to have to do _everything_ we can in our capacity to protect our school image and to _support_ black _gakuran_ students. Just like the way they secretly support us despite our difference and our long-lasting opposition inside the school," Sasuke smirked confidently. "After all, no matter whether it's black or white _gakuran_ ; we're still Konoha Academy's students all the same, aren't we?"

Neji looked stunned, before he chuckled and clapped Sasuke on his back. "Of course, _Sasuke-kaichou_ (2). So, what are we going to do?" He seemed to be eager to help and it brought a tiny smile to Sasuke's face.

"First, we have to go back to school and plan with the rest of Student Council body. Then…" Sasuke spoke his instruction and they got out of the hospital instantly to do just that.

* * *

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

* * *

"So, talk to me, Shino." Naruto wheedled Shino after he made sure that neither Sasuke nor Neji stayed around to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"She got Kiba," Shino exclaimed so suddenly. Apparently, he was desperate enough that he didn't even notice Naruto's mortification at that news. "It's Matatabi, Naruto. I'd heard about her before. She was in Jinchuuriki once, wasn't she? She was your former comrade. Why did she do this?"

Naruto was the one who wanted to know that answer. But he tried to stay cool so as not to make Shino panic more because it was honestly the first time Naruto had ever seen the always collected Shino act like he was close to freaking out. The power of Jinchuuriki name to induce fear to people was still very strong despite already disbanded for almost half a year.

"I don't know, but I will fix this. I promise. Now, tell me what she said to you," Naruto draped his palms on Shino's shoulders as a mean to coax him to speak more and to reassure him.

Shino took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment before he nodded. "She said, _if_ I met Naruto, I had to say 'Nii Yugito is waiting for him at the _usual_ place' and ' _Matatabi_ is itchy to shred his face in pieces."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he heard that. "So this is _personal_ ," he grumbled in fury as he released Shino's shoulders and then clenched his fists hard on his sides.

"Naruto… you're going to get Kiba back, right?" Shino guessed and Naruto snorted at that.

"Of course I'm going to. Despite being a pain in the ass most of the time, Kiba is still my precious friend and subordinate. I'll do anything to get him back," Naruto promised, determined and resolute.

"It could just be a trap to lure you out," Shino pointed and Naruto just smiled at his concern.

"Even if it _is_ , I'm still going. Now worries, I have back up." Naruto patted Shino's arm once before he straightened and made a move to leave. "You, rest here and recuperate. Kiba will bitch at me and _you_ non-stop if he finds out you're injured because of him. Just hope you're better when we get back so he won't be too upset about it."

"Yeah," Shino actually gave him a feeble smile and it was enough for now as he left and pulled the door shut behind him

Now, Naruto had a rescue mission to do. He knew where Kiba was held hostage if Yugito… no, _Matatabi_ meant _that place_. But first, he had to call for that backup. He took out his cell phone as soon as he was outside the hospital and dialed the number that Utakata had given him.

"Ah, Uncle Bee?" Naruto greeted as soon as the phone was picked up.

" _Yo, Naruto! Long times no hear from you, bro!"_

Naruto chuckled at the way Bee spoke with his crappy rap. "Yeah, need a bit of a help. Where are you now? I want to visit-"

There was a background mumbling conversation on the other side of the phone-line and Naruto stopped talking as he recognized the voice. "Is Gaara there?" His mood darkened considerably. He was still angry that Gaara didn't tell him anything about this incident, and he was itching to get his hand on that red haired bastard to shake and throttle him.

" _Uh, what-a what-what?"_ Bee sounded too innocent.

"Gaara… never mind. Tell him to stay _put_. I'm coming there anyway. So, where are you now? I'd like to talk about _Yugito_." Naruto immediately cut the chase and there was a pause in the line before Bee's somber voice replied him and informed him his whereabouts.

"I'll be there in ten." Naruto uttered before he said good bye and hung up. He was about to run to the nearest bus station because he had to cross the other side of the town to where Bee was right then. Though, before he could get out of the hospital gate, a silver Chevrolet skidded and stopped right in front of him.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked in surprise and made a double take when the blackened window opened to reveal Itachi in the driver seat.

"Get in. I presume you're in a hurry to get to some places, right?" Itachi said, his gaze knowing and understanding and Naruto didn't have any notion to question the older Uchiha's motive because of the sheer amount of _problems_ which he was still mulling over at this moment. He just got on the car and took the front passenger seat.

"To Kumo," he said as soon as he shut the door and Itachi silently obliged and drove away.

_Wait for me, Kiba! I'll be there as soon as I can! Please shut your cheeky mouth and stay safe!_

**End of Chapter 8**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

**1)** _ **Shishou**_ **:** teacher (in martial arts context).

**2)** _ **Kaichou**_ **:** a suffix to call the head of corporate, chief, or the head of student body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… this re-written story turned out a lot different from the first version. Oh, well, it's the Jinchuuriki fault, really. I just HAVE to add them into the mix somehow *lol* and that's why this is not the end of the chapter title, there will be the 4th part of this 'I Want to Know You More' section. Alright, so… what do you think? Con-crit is as always, welcome!


	10. I Want to Know You More (Part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The confrontation, some secrets unfolded, and Sasuke might understand something more about Naruto... although some mysteries are too tough to solve alone.
> 
> And why does Itachi seem to have his own agenda here, somehow?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um... hey, everyone, sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I had been busy with work and life. Oh well, I guess I don't need to blabber about unimportant thing. Just enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Warning: some violence, blood, nothing too serious, but... and a sonen ai teaser at the end.

**Love Me, My Brother**

**Chapter 9: I Want to Know You More (Part 4)**

* * *

 

Somewhere at the remote suburban area of Konoha City, a vast estate stood up elegantly. It was an old traditional Japanese styled house with wide yard and low rooftop, completed with the classic _koi_ pond and the automatic thudding bamboo stick in the middle. The interior structure of the house consisted of a lot of rooms with many sliding doors as the divider. The floor board was polished to perfection until the dark colored wooden top was shiny and the _tatamis_ were in various light colors and very nice to look at, especially when they were combined with the overall color of each room.

In one of those room, a beautiful woman with waist-length, straight blood-red hair and a dark shade of blue irises wearing a dark red, fire-patterned kimono sat quietly in front of a pot of half-arranged flowers. She hummed an old song as her graceful long fingers caressed the stems and her other hand capably cut some of them. She looked content as she proceed with her activity before someone knocked at the wooden part of the sliding door.

“Come in,” she said, her voice soft and cheery.

“ _Anee-san_ (1),” a young man with jet-black hair wearing a suit and a pair of sunglasses greeted in _seiza_ from the doorstep as soon as the door opened.

“What is it?” She didn’t even turned around as she spoke, her smile never dropping.

“ _Jinchuuriki_ ’s movement has been spotted in the down town area,” he reported seriously. “What are we going to do about them?”

“Why must we do something about them? They are an independent group,” she replied nonchalantly.

“But anee-san, _waka_ (2) already disbanded that group the moment he was named the official successor of Kyuubi Gumi. Our Clan is responsible to intervene and get rid of them if they try anything to hinder _waka_ ’s path.” A protest was verbalized and the woman in the room finally put down the flowers and the tools before she turned to face the young man.

“They are Naruto’s problem,” she responded calmly. “He won’t forgive us if we take the matter into our hands without his consent. He might seriously cut all ties with us if we ignore _his_ warning. _Arashi_ (3) taking him away from our home after divorcing me were bad enough. Do you want him to take Naruto away from this country too? He can do that, you know. He’s _The Storm*_ of Uzumaki family after all.” Her smile didn’t falter, but there was something ominous in her tone that suggested that she was displeased and caused the man to pale slightly.

“Ah, of course not, anee-san,” he looked down, seeming to feel ashamed. “But, I wonder what _aniki_ (4) will do. After all the trouble of trying to get _waka_ out of the responsibility as the successor… Arashi-aniki still doesn’t abandon Uzumaki’s name. Is he even serious with his intention?”

She chuckled at that, looking slightly amused. “Arashi doesn’t like to cause _bloodshed_. He’s a smart man with many ideas and resources. He’s just being cautious. If he so obscenely tried to steal away Kyuubi’s official successor, Kyuubi Gumi would make a move disregarding Naruto’s wish. And Arashi sure as hell knows how merciless and ruthless Kyuubi Gumi can be. He’s just taking the safest way to protect Naruto’s innocence without alerting Kyuubi. Besides, Naruto is still a child. He still has time until he turns 18 before he has to take the mantle of Kyuubi’s boss.” She turned around again and started to pick up her tool and a flower to resume her _ikebana_ (5). “In the meantime, I’m still capable enough to take his place until he’s satisfied playing around as a _normal_ civilian. Don’t you think so?”

“That is absolutely correct, anee-san,” the man smiled, apparently content with her explanation. “Oh, there’s more,” he started, seeming to remember something else. “Another LEAF agent was spotted in Narita a few days ago, and I believe he already made contact with _waka_ and his new family… though, Arashi-aniki and his new wife are on their honeymoon at the moment, so only _waka_ and his step brother stay at their residence.”

She stopped her hand once again before turning her head to look at the man again with a tense look. “LEAF?”

“Yes, a young agent, according to our clan’s ‘eyes’. He might be here to look into the accident that involved Shisui and Akatsuki.”

“Hmm…” She looked at her flowers in the pot once again, seeming to think about something somberly. “It was an unfortunate tragedy, but it was necessary to wake Naruto… to establish who’s more dominant. Kurama… or Naruto, that is.” She cut a rose stem with too much force, causing the petal to fall and the flower to be unusable. “Oh no,” she sighed. “It was such a nice rose too.”

“Anee-san?” the man gazed at the woman in a concerned expression.

“To care and maintain the beauty of the full bloomed rose in its tree, do you know what the most important thing to do is?” She gazed at the petal in her hand, caressed each slice gently before she clenched her fist, crushing them all in her hand. “Cut the flower buds that haven’t bloomed yet,” she said, letting go of the crushed flower to fall down on the tatami.

“Kushina-aneesan…” the man stared at the broken petals on the tatami, looking awed and terrified at the same time.

“It’s ‘ _Youko_ ’, Amemiya,” the woman looked upward before gazing back at Amemiya, her irises no longer blue but crimson instead. “Kushina is not _here_ anymore, remember that.”

“Yes, Youko-aneesan,” Amemiya bowed politely, full of certainty.

“I need to speak with this LEAF agent,” she put down her tool once again, apparently having enough of her ikebana. It was only half-done, but she probably would continue it later. “Take me to him, Amemiya.”

“As you wish, anee-san.”

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

**_Kumo City, Killer Bee’s residence—_ **

Naruto glowered murderously at Gaara while the red haired teen stubbornly held his gaze with determination which was almost unrivalled by anyone (except maybe Naruto because he was equally or possibly more obstinate than him).

Bee looked at the two youngsters while sweating bullets, a bit worried if they would start the brawl there and destroy his living room. The young man who came with Naruto, Uchiha Itachi— _he introduced himself_ , just sat beside Bee in conscientious silence after Bee offered him his hospitality.

Then Naruto had started to glare at Gaara the moment he saw the red head. Gaara didn’t say anything and just stared back defiantly with crossed arms. They hadn’t said a word since they started this debacle ten minutes ago.

“Explain to me why you kept quiet about Yugito acting up and beating up our school mates,” Naruto broke the ice first, his voice deceivingly calm despite the chilling tone.

“Yugito… no, _Matatabi_ was Jinchuuriki’s, Naruto.” Gaara replied as calmly, but there was a hint of weariness in the way he spoke.

“All the more reasons to notify me. I am the former Jinchuuriki’s boss.” Naruto narrowed his eyes.

Gaara sighed. “That’s the key word. ‘Former’, Naruto, you have nothing to do with them anymore.” His speech now picked up a rather exasperated tone.

“And you still have?” Naruto raised his eyebrow in a challenge and Gaara glared at him with a ‘ _Don’t you start_ ’ look.

“Alright, fair enough, I do remember what I said when I left the group back then. I said you could take the leader position, but you made it clear that you only wanted to be there as long as I was there too. You chose to follow me.” Naruto reminded. “And now… the guys that Yugito… that _Matatabi_ attacked are my subordinates in our school. You have no right to withhold information about the perpetrator that attacked them, or even go as far as to silence them…! That’s not how it works, Gaara! You have to tell me if people are in danger because someone has a personal grudge towards me!”

“Naruto, you getting involved with Jinchuuriki again after all this time—”

“-is bullshit!” Naruto cut his excuse in a tense shout. “I don’t want to hear excuse that involves you trying to protect me. I can protect myself, Gaara. Have you forgotten who took you down and owned you after you went berserk a couple of years ago?”

Gaara visibly flinched at that. Bee knew it was a low blow to remind Gaara of his blunder a few years ago, the incident with Shukaku in his and Naruto’s middle school trip that no one talked about, but Bee couldn’t help agreeing with the blond, that Gaara trying to protect Naruto was kind of unnecessary either, especially if the opponent from whom he was trying to shield Naruto was Nii Yugito, a.k.a. Matatabi the _bakeneko_ , former member of Jinchuuriki, a group of delinquents that Naruto founded and commanded until it was disbanded not even half a year ago.

Gaara apparently couldn’t retort, so Naruto continued. “Thought so. Because you hid this particular information, I was late in realizing the connection with me, resulting in me taking no action to solve the problem. The number of casualties were increasing and just now it even reached white gakuran student. Shino was attacked, you know. He’s hurt and now is hospitalized.”

“What?” Gaara paled slightly as he heard that.

“Worse, Kiba is kidnapped as well,” Naruto scratched his head curtly, looking frustrated.

“ _What?_ ” If Gaara’s face could get any paler, it would.

“And Matatabi wants me to be there to take responsibility of whatever I have done to earn her wrath.” Now Naruto just looked resigned. “I have a pretty good idea what she wants… looking at the history between her and _him_. But seriously, I have no idea how many people following her right now. Matatabi isn’t exactly friendly, but Yugito has her own way to make people kneel before her without even trying.” He sighed deeply before he looked upward at Bee, catching Bee’s instant attention. “Uncle Bee, do you know something about it?” He sounded somewhat expectant.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t spoken with Matatabi since the group breakup. She was… quite broken hearted when you left, and she refused to socialize for a while right after.” For once Bee didn’t feel like making a rap of his sentence, seeing how grave the situation was at the moment. “Though, she’s a tough girl, yo. She’s going to be completely fine!” and he was back with the rap.

Naruto gave him a sour look. “By attacking people indiscriminately?”

Naruto got a point. “Well~ at least no one died in the sewer!” Bee chirped. Naruto just rolled his eyes at him before sighing again.

“I quite hope that you’ll help me talk her down, Uncle Bee,” Naruto looked at him earnestly. “I need your back up since I have no idea how to communicate to her after the… _you know_. She will still expect _him_ to show up instead of me. Matatabi is crazy about _him_ after all,” he complained morosely.

“That is true… I guess. But her dad will flip out if he finds out about this. Rai-aniki is quite fond of his little princess, even though she isn’t exactly little, or like a princess when Matatabi is in control. He’s completely blind of her personality problem as well as of mine, apparently, but mine is tolerable most of the time since we’re _partners_. Matatabi, though… like her tittle, she’s completely cunning with her crazy tendency.” Bee let out a curt huff. “Though, I doubt that she will have more than four people with her, if my calculation is right.”

“Calculation?” Naruto raised his other eyebrow in curious look.

“Her bodyguards,” Bee shrugged. “Samui, Atsui, Omoi and Karui, the four top fighters of Kumo Gumi,” he added as an afterthought.

Naruto made a face. “Aren’t they your followers?”

“Former students, bro!” Bee corrected, making a shooting gesture at Naruto. “They were officially recruited by Rai-aniki to guard Yugito after the Jinchuuriki breakup. Even though she doesn’t exactly need any bodyguard, ya know, what with Matatabi there under the surface. But Matatabi is rather fickle, she can’t be trusted to take care of Yugito in case she gets into some kind of mess and leaves Yugito to clean up afterwards.”

“Don’t we know that?” Naruto snorted. “Matatabi the _bakeneko_ (6) really lives to her name,” he shook his head after that.

“So, what are you going to do?”

Itachi, who was only silently watching their exchange until a moment ago finally contributed his voice in the conversation, while Gaara was seemingly just aware that the older man was there at all with the way he jolted and turned to face him in a rather surprised expression, and Bee looked at the dark haired man questioningly as Naruto groaned.

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” Bee couldn’t help asking, not about his name _per se_ , but who he was to Naruto.

“I’m Itachi, Naruto’s st—”

“WAAAAAH!” Naruto yelled so suddenly, loudly, and with _feelings_ , effectively cutting whatever Itachi was about to say, earning the blond a collective bemused expression, including Bee’s. “Look at the time! I should have been on my way to deal with Matatabi and save Kiba! Come, Itachi _-san_! You promised you’d take me there with your car!” He stood up and hurriedly moved, grabbing Itachi’s arm on his way out.

“Wait, Naruto!” Gaara stood as well. “I’m coming with you!”

“No!” Naruto whirled around once again and shouted at him. “You stay here or go back to school, damn it! It’s bad enough that Kiba was taken as a hostage! Do you have any idea what _disaster_ will occur if _Shukaku_ goes berserk again?!”

Gaara looked legitimately offended. “I won’t let _him_ out again.” He gritted his teeth, obviously holding back his temper.

“No. I’m not going to take that risk. A fight between Jinchuurikis aside, there are other _ordinary_ people at the premise. You can’t expect me to endanger their lives too much as well, Gaara. So, big NO.” Naruto stared at him deeply and commandingly and Gaara’s willpower visibly wavered with the way his gaze dropped.

“But…” Gaara couldn’t seem to accept it still. Bee knew how hard it was to hold back their other halves in the middle of a fight, and of all the Jinchuuriki members, Gaara was the easiest to be taken over by his _Shukaku_. Gaara should have known that best as well, so Naruto’s argument was totally valid. Of course, _Bee realized_ , it didn’t make it easier for Gaara to step back from helping his friend slash boss, though.

“Gaara, you should take charge of the guys at school when I’m away,” Naruto approached the red head once again and put both of his palms on Gaara’s shoulders, making the boy look upward at Naruto with slightly widened eyes. “You’re Naruto’s gang’s number two, remember? I don’t know how many people will be with Matatabi, and there is always a risk of the school getting attacked when I’m distracted somewhere else. When the boss is away, his number two should take his spot to protect the subordinates, right?”

Naruto threw him a confident grin and Gaara most likely saw the total faith and conviction Naruto had in him in his clear blue eyes. Bee always wondered how Naruto could easily move other people’s heart, but when he saw such resolution in the boy’s clear blue eyes, he couldn’t help following Naruto’s every whim himself. He couldn’t blame Gaara when he instantly obliged.

“Understood,” Gaara finally agreed with a rueful smile before his gaze shifted to Bee. “Please take care of Naruto, Bee,” he bowed slightly, showing his respect.

“No problem, Suna-boy! I’m going to help Naruto talk Mata—uh, _Yugito_ down as best as I can,” he nodded, slapping Gaara’s back gently. Gaara then turned aside slightly to face Itachi with an inquisitive gaze as Itachi only nodded and gave him a small smile.

“Let’s go then, Uncle Bee! Itachi-ni—err Itachi- _san_ ,” Naruto seemed to stumble with his honorific for Itachi’s name that earned him another curious looks from the red head and Bee.

“Alright.” Itachi led the way to his car. Bee and Naruto followed him while Gaara got out only to send them off before he walked away, presumably back to school as Naruto’s wish.

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

**_Konoha Academy; Student Council Office—_ **

“Yosh, for the time being, we should add patrol on the area around the school. All Executive Committee members will participate in pair. Each patrol for each pair will cover a specific ground for at least 10 minutes before the next pair will take the first pair’s place. This way the executive committee members will rotate until they all have the chance to juggle the class and their duty.”

Sasuke stamped the urgent document and sent Neji to the principal office so it would get approval. Luckily, the principal didn’t seem to be scheduled to go anywhere for today (dealing with Shino’s parents pressure to report the attack to the pollice, obviously), so the document went through the screen easily and got the signature and the stamp without any obstacle.

Kakashi visited SC office at some point to ask where Sasuke was during the afternoon class and Sasuke told him about the attack that happened to Shino this morning and he was at the hospital to deal with the report. Kakashi raised his eyebrows before saying “Okay,” and then only grumbled in annoyance about kids these days and their wild life choice.

Then there was Iruka. Iruka, who looked positively _worried_ , because Naruto was absent and he thought Sasuke might know where the blond was. Honestly, Sasuke didn’t know where Naruto was at the moment because after he and Neji left Konoha Central Hospital, Naruto hadn’t called to inform him what he was going to do. He hoped it wasn’t something stupid like raiding the _enemy’s_ base or something equally moronic because Naruto seemed like the kind of guy who would just do that to avenge his friends.

Sasuke assured Iruka as much as he could, that he sent Naruto on an errand and Iruka didn’t need to worry about it. Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie. Naruto was indeed on a _task_ to solve a certain problem which apparently had to be dealt by black gakuran students.

The nature of the problem was a bit questionable, though. Sasuke only didn’t mention that part. Well, a lie by omission was more correct in this case.

Somehow, it got crazier after that because there was an unexpected visitor for Sasuke.

Sunano Gaara stood on SC office doorstep with a grave look in his face and eyes.

“Gaara?” Sasuke blinked at him confusedly. “What are you doing here?”

Gaara opened his mouth, halted, looked the other way rather hesitantly before he seemed to make up his mind and looked back to Sasuke. “I need a favor,” he said.

“What favor?” Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly.

“It’s about Naruto,” Gaara sounded rather tentative.

Sasuke sat straighter at the mention of Naruto’s name. “What’s wrong with that moron?” He just couldn’t help his voice raising a bit in concern, because, damn it! Naruto was annoying as hell, yes, but he was part of Sasuke’s family now.

Gaara raised his brow slightly, seeming to notice Sasuke’s change of mood. “He’s dealing with black gakuran student’s _thin_ g,” he answered.

“I know that.” Sasuke gave Gaara an annoyed deadpan. “What’s _wrong_ with him?”

Gaara looked vigilant for a moment, probably assessing how much Sasuke knew about their roles inside and outside of their school, before he opened his mouth again, “It’s-… this incident this time is a bit… no; it’s _very_ personal for Naruto. The perpetrator that attacked several of our fellow black gakuran students… She’s Naruto’s former subordinates.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “ _Our_ school black gakuran student?” he guessed, a bit surprised.

Gaara shook his head. “No, it was… Naruto’s other _gang_ ,” he spoke more carefully, his eyes suggesting something that he couldn’t say. Sasuke recalled his conversation with Naruto the other night, about Naruto’s former family. Did Gaara refer Naruto’s former family as his other gang?

“Before he entered high school, Naruto was a leader of a certain gang that shan’t be named anymore. Anyway, they’re already disbanded, but… some of the former members are getting restless again and Naruto is worried that it has something to do with him, at some point,” Gaara continued.

“Does it?” Sasuke asked, unable to control his curiosity anymore. “Does it have something to do with him?”

Gaara made a strange, intangible mumbling noise that resembling swearing words before he nodded. “It does, unfortunately.” He sighed. “Look. Naruto really loves his comrades, you know. Doesn’t matter if it’s his former ones or his present ones. If it was the Naruto _before_ , there wouldn’t any problem, but the Naruto now won’t stand a chance.” He made a face as he looked at Sasuke, as if it pained him to speak. “He needs help, Uchiha Sasuke. He won’t let me help him, but if it’s you… maybe…”

“Why would you think he’d let _me_ help him?” Sasuke was rather baffled at that idea. After all, he remembered how Naruto had sent him away when he had to speak with Shino earlier that noon.

_“It’s a black gakuran thing to deal with, Sasuke.”_

_Where is the distress call that says he needs any help at all from that sentence?_ —Sasuke couldn’t help grumbling inwardly. Besides, he was _Naruto_ for earth sake! The boss of East Building, delinquent extraordinary! How dangerous could his old group be?

_Well, unless he’s really dealing with yakuza…_

Gaara looked at the table, his expression calming a bit. “It’s because he thinks of you as his ‘equal’.” He lifted his gaze at Sasuke once again, his green eyes glinting. “You are his mortal rival that he acknowledges wholeheartedly. He won’t have to worry about you getting hurt in the middle of his mess.” He smirked slightly.

“I see,” Sasuke deadpanned again before he chuckled and shook his head at the thought. “His mortal rival, huh? Well said, Gaara.”

“Don’t push it Uchiha. He still hates your guts,” Gaara warned and Sasuke huffed out a startled laugh at his sincerity when he said it.

“Don’t I know that?” Sasuke rolled his eyes, slightly amused. If only Gaara knew Naruto and Sasuke’s family circumstance. “Well, he needs help then. What can I do to help him?”

Gaara was silent for a moment before he nodded. “You just have to catch him when he falls.”

 _What in the world does he mean by that?_ —Sasuke couldn’t help looking at Gaara perplexedly as if he had just sprouted cat ears on his red head.

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

“Itachi-ni—, I mean, Itachi-san,” Naruto cursed inwardly for his almost slip again. “You can drop me and uncle Bee here,” he said, looking at Itachi earnestly after they almost passed the park in the downtown area of Konoha City.

“Right here?” Itachi sent him a calculating gaze, slowing down the car speed. “You sure you don’t want me there as well?”

Naruto shook his head. “It’s better if you’re not involved in a gang fight, Itachi-san. You don’t want to get a bad image for your career, right?” He tilted his head aside, wondering why Itachi was there at all. True, he was Sasuke’s big brother and that made him Naruto’s step brother in extension, but he didn’t have any obligation to help him whatsoever. Besides, he was a model. Shouldn’t he be careful with how he looked in public? Or else he could get caught in a scandal, like getting involved with the bad crowd (including Naruto).

“True, but you need help, don’t you?” Itachi asked, his tone gentle and mildly curious.

“It’s not your problem, though,” Naruto shifted his gaze away from Itachi’s searching look. “I’ll be fine. Uncle Bee is with me. He’s an adult that can be trusted.” Naruto winced a bit at his silly reasoning. Well, it was true, Bee was totally trustworthy even though his appearance was a bit dubious. For one, he looked like a _ganguro_ with his mocha complexion and strange styled, light-dyed hair. He wore fancy sunglasses and his tenacity to speak like he was rapping was weird as hell. But, he was funny and actually a really good person despite his eccentric habit.

“Okay,” Itachi said after a short, pregnant silence. He stopped the car and let Naruto and Bee out. “Do you need me to call an ambulance? Just in case,” he asked meaningfully before Naruto and Bee could walk away.

“We’ll be fine,” Naruto winked at him confidently after he closed the car door. Then, he and Bee ran to the alley between two tall buildings across the street.

**#**

Itachi huffed out a sigh after watching the blond and his dark skinned companion made a turn to enter the alleyway before he fished out his cell phone from his black pants pocket and started dialing a certain number in its phone book. The connecting tone beeped twice before the line was picked up.

 _“Nagato.”_ A heavy baritone voice greeted from the ear piece.

“Hey, it’s me,” Itachi spoke with a small smile.

_“Itachi? What’s wrong?”_

“I can’t call if nothing is wrong?” Itachi raised one of his eyebrows. His friend was too serious as always.

 _“Well, yes, of course you can.”_ There was a pause before the man continued. _“Still, it’s not like you to make an international call only to say ‘hello’ though.”_

Itachi chuckled. “You underestimate my drive to connect with people, Nagato. Though, you’re half right that I have some news that you might be interested in, aside just saying hello.”

Nagato was silent for a few seconds before his voice filtered once again from the phone. _“What is it?”_

“A few years ago, you told me about your former family and that you had many brothers who weren’t related by blood,” Itachi started and Nagato didn’t say anything as he took his time in continuing. “I have no proof for this, but I speculated that you were from a yakuza family when you accidentally mentioned about your disagreement with your family way that led you to leave the house and decide to live abroad.”

 _“I was drunk.”_ Nagato mumbled quietly, but Itachi still could pick it up from the ear piece.

“You might have consumed quite amount of alcohol at the time, yes,” Itachi couldn’t help smirking slightly. “You were quite fascinating when you talked about them. Never knew you could speak so much in one sentence,” he laughed lightly then.

Nagato coughed, probably trying to mask his embarrassment. _“Now, what is this about? What news do you want to inform me?”_ And the obvious effort to change the subject was too funny to boot. Itachi just loved Nagato for being awkward most of the time, especially when he was embarrassed.

“The family you left behind… I remembered you told me about a younger brother and something about him being the son of a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes who married into the family, to your big sister if I recalled correctly. That brother… is he by any chance Uzumaki Naruto?” Itachi dropped his teasing and asked solemnly now.

There was a sharp drawn up breath from the phone and Nagato was silent for almost a minute before he started again. _“How did you—?”_

“You’re not going to believe this, but that brother of yours… is _my_ brother now.”

_“…What?!”_

Itachi could almost imagine Nagato’s shocked expression as he squeaked. Yeah, so unlike him to lose his cool like that, but his voice almost went an octave higher right then. “No, seriously. My mother remarried, you see, to a man named Uzumaki Arashi and he has a son named Uzumaki Naruto, and apparently, Naruto is tied to a certain _gang_ which is suspiciously like a yakuza family. What a coincidence, right? World is scarily small when you’re presented with this kind of twist of fate.”

 _“Is Naruto alright?”_ The tone of alarm surprised Itachi because he didn’t say anything about Naruto being in danger or something, but somehow Nagato caught _that_ from Itachi’s sentences, which _honestly_ baffled Itachi a bit.

“How come you thought _that_ from what I said?”

 _“You didn’t say no. Damn it, Itachi. Is Naruto okay?”_ Now Nagato seemed to get impatient.

“He’s as healthy as any 16 year old boy could be,” Itachi sighed. “He’s fine, Nagato.” Though Itachi didn’t know for how long.

 _“…you don’t sound lying, but you’re not telling me something either.”_ It was creepy how Nagato even predicted that. The guy was like clairvoyant sometimes. It was unnerving.

“Well, he’s… kind of in a tight spot right now.” There was no point in lying to the guy, though. Besides, he was at the other side of the globe. What could Nagato do? “There’s this problem that his friends got beaten up by someone who seems to have a grudge on Naruto. I’m fuzzy on the detail, but one of his friends is hospitalized and another is kidnapped and now Naruto is on his way to save the kidnapped guy, together with a man he called _uncle_ Bee. They also mentioned some names and strange aliases that I can’t follow quite right because I don’t know the context. Do you know anything about it?” He inquired then, because as his step brother, he was quite curious about Naruto and wanted to help Naruto in any way he could. But, without any knowledge, Itachi might as well be as useless as any civilian (which he wasn’t, by the way).

_Besides, more information regarding Uzumaki Family can be quite an arsenal to finish my other job._

_“…No. I left the house four years ago and never looked back. All I know about Naruto then… and what he is now can be as different as sky and earth.”_ There was a hint of regret in his tone, but he made a choice like Itachi did six years ago. They left their beloved ones to run from the kind of life that they hated. It was their price to pay for freedom and they accepted it with fortitude. _“I just… I just hope that he’d live a happy fulfilling life, you know. He’s my little brother.”_

 _More like his nephew, though, but their age difference isn’t that far. Nagato might have treated Naruto more as a brother than as a nephew—_ Itachi concluded silently. Nagato must have loved him dearly with the way his voice trembled slightly as he spoke about the boy. He and Itachi were quite similar in that regard. It was one of the reasons why they were friends in the first place. “I understand what you mean,” Itachi couldn’t help smiling softly at the thought of Sasuke.

 _“Though… I know about some secrets that aren’t going to change no matter how much Naruto changes,”_ Nagato continued and Itachi straightened his back as he eagerly waited for Nagato to drop the shoe.

When Nagato spoke again though, instead a shoe, he dropped a bomb.

“Eh?” Itachi couldn’t help widening his eyes at that.

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

Sasuke was in the middle of getting his permit to leave the school early in the administrative office when someone barged in.

Well, more like opened the door normally, but what revealed behind it was something so breathtaking that every pair of eyes inside the room were immediately on it… _her_. A beautiful woman with modern low cut red dress stepped inside. Sasuke was instantly troubled of how to put his line of sight. Her dress was _so_ low-cut that he could almost see her breast if he just looked the right way. Fortunately, he had an iron-clad control of his mannerism, so he tried to look at her face instead, which was mostly hidden with the large pair of sunglasses and a big round red hat.

“Is Uchiha Sasuke here?” she asked in the dead silence of the office as the male staffs were obviously drooling over her at first sight.

“I’m right here,” Sasuke couldn’t help raising one of his eyebrows in astonishment because he had never seen her before in his life, but how the hell did she know Sasuke? Much less knew how to reach him, at his school, in the administrative office to boot.

Her invisible eyes behind the shades focused on his general direction and Sasuke knew she saw him as she gestured with his index finger for him to come closer. Sasuke raised his other eyebrow at that. He didn’t have any intention to follow order or request without any proper words. She visibly sighed at his demonstration of defiance. “Come here for a minute, boy. I’d like to speak with you.” She lowered her sunglasses and showed him a pair of ruby colored eyes and slit dark pupils which he had ever seen before in someone else’s eyes.

 _Huh?_ —Sasuke was sure he had ever seen those eyes. _But,_ _where did I see them?_

“I don’t have time for you to list the pros and cons internally, Uchiha Sasuke. Either you come or you don’t. You would unless you didn’t care about your _new_ brother.” She smirked and Sasuke widened his eyes in shock as she twirled around, swaying her straight, long dark-red hair before she walked away.

Sasuke snapped, “Wait!” and hurried to move after her, leaving the office where people stared at the now empty door with confusion and bewilderment.

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

Naruto and Bee stopped in front of a large abandoned building. The alleyway they entered before was a short-cut to enter the building at the other side of the downtown which was separated from the main road by a six meters width, three meters depth sewer. There was a small old iron bridge that connected the end of the alleyway directly into the abandoned building at the second story.

However, that entrance at the moment was guarded by two people: a guy with spiky light brown hair and a girl with straight, neck-length, blond hair.

“We can’t allow you to pass through,” the guy said gravely even though he widened his eyes for a fraction when he saw Bee and promptly ignored Naruto who narrowed his eyes at him. “ _Ojou’s_ (7) order.”

“It’s been awhile, Bee-sensei,” the girl spoke, greeting Bee, her demeanor calm and cool. Her big boobs bounced a little as she changed her stance to face Bee directly. She also made a point not to mind Naruto which seemed to piss off the blond boy a bit.

“Omoi… Samui…” Bee regarded his former students carefully. “We need to speak with Yugito.”

“Yugito-sama said Naruto-kun can proceed, but you, on the other hand…” Omoi made an apologetic expression. “You have to stay behind, sensei.”

Bee shook his head. “Not an option.”

“Well, you’re not getting through here, sensei. Not without beating us first anyway,” Omoi stepped to the fore, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Then so be it,” Naruto growled, furrowing his brow and tensing his body, like he was ready to launch the first strike.

“Wait, Naru-boy,” Bee quickly reached and grabbed Naruto’s shoulder, stopping him from making the first move. “You can go first and let me deal with them.”

“But, Uncle Bee! I need you inside as a buffer between me and Matatabi. There’s no use of you being here at all if you stay behind!” Naruto protested in a slight alarm.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. You can always stall first, just to make sure that your friend is okay,” Bee patted his back encouragingly and Naruto pouted for a moment before he sighed in resignation.

“Fine,” the blond grumbled and looked ahead at Omoi and Samui. “Step aside,” he said seriously. Both man and woman made a path between them to let Naruto enter. They didn’t spare him any glance as Naruto moved before they crowded the entrance once again in front of Bee as soon as Naruto went through.

“Now, what can I do to convince you guys that I need to enter the place?” Bee asked, feeling his irises changing color slightly behind his sunglasses.

Samui gave him a small smile. “You can start by trying our self-defense, Bee-sensei.”

“Or, you can just stay here until Ojou is finished with her business,” Omoi grinned confidently and Bee couldn’t help that his former pupils were in need of a lesson once again, especially when they seemed to underestimate their opponent’s ability despite already knowing him.

 _Well… they don’t know about you, Gyuuki—_ Bee smirked inwardly, letting the other him come forward, snorting at him and at their obstacles both.

“They’re gonna regret it painfully,” Gyuuki growled and then—

It was too fast of a movement to follow with naked eyes.

**~Sasuke x Naruto~**

Sasuke glanced at the woman beside him warily. They were in her car, seated in the back seat of a black limousine for God’s sake. Who was she anyway? Some kind of celebrity? Important person? Government agent? Sasuke was sure that even government fund wouldn’t cut out to use a limousine for their business… unless it was some kind of undercover mission.

“I know you must be quite surprised,” she said, jarring Sasuke’s attention off of his increasingly disturbing thought. “It’s not every day to get picked up by a woman like me, huh?” She raised her eyebrows and Sasuke rolled his eyes at that. He turned to face her more prominently and she took off her sunglasses, setting them on the small desk beside her that housed quite a collection of bottled alcohol. Some of the labels were quite hardcore that Sasuke made a point to ignore them.

“What do you want to talk about?” Sasuke didn’t acknowledge her opening speech and proceeded to get to the business. She smiled slightly, still not looking at his direction.

“I trust you know who I am,” she said, which didn’t make any sense because he obviously didn’t. He stared at her ridiculously and she seemed a bit taken aback when she finally met his eyes because he didn’t answer her. “Well, that’s unexpected. You’ve never heard of me?”

Sasuke just looked at her with a _‘please’_ kind of look because he honestly didn’t think she was that famous if he never saw her in any television or newspaper.

“Huh… trust Naruto and Arashi to not mention a thing about their family,” she huffed, looking a bit annoyed. “Well, now can be an informal introduction then… before the real deal. I’m Uzumaki ‘Youko’ Kushina, Naruto’s birth mother,” she introduced herself and finally Sasuke got a name he could refer her to and—

 _Wait a second!_ —Sasuke widened his eyes a bit as the information finally sank in his head. _Naruto’s birth mother?!_

“It’s nice to meet you, Uchiha Sasuke,” she smirked and Sasuke might have gaped a bit, but he tried his best to maintain his composure as bullets of cold sweat started to trickle down behind his neck. He had suspected about Naruto’s former family… the _Uzumaki Clan_ , one of Yakuza Groups in Konoha City in alliance with Kyuubi Group, the most notorious yakuza family in Japan. He never expected to have to deal with them directly, though… much less with Naruto’s mother, which would make him dealing directly with the boss of a yakuza clan. What was going to happen to him?

“You too.” Thank God his voice didn’t quiver in the slightest. Must be his gene, really, because Sasuke was panicking on the inside and his Uchiha’s gene didn’t let him show it. Bless it to high heaven.

“As the rumor says, you’re quite a look and a catch,” Kushina grinned, her eyes alight with mischief. “Must be why Naruto is so fixated on you most of the time.”

Sasuke shrugged. “I’m always like this.” Yeah, right, as if. Sasuke really had to thank his training to be as stoic as possible all the time for enabling him to stay appearing calm even under duress. He hoped the mother wouldn’t take an offense for his lack of showing fear towards who she was. Naruto was one thing, his mother… well. Sasuke just didn’t want to test that theory.

Kushina chuckled slightly at his response. “You’re quite interesting for an Uchiha,” she commented. “Well… as much as Uchiha can be anyway, but you’re not the focus of problem that I want to discuss,” she turned to face the window. Sasuke caught an implication in her sentence that she knew Uchiha, on a level. But Sasuke wasn’t sure if it was from Uchiha’s characteristic in general or a specific person.

“You said it’s about Naruto,” Sasuke decided to file the previous thought and nodded, acknowledging her to continue. He didn’t release his eyes from her figure though.

“Yes,” Kushina nodded. “Are you aware of who he was before he became your step brother?”

Sasuke looked down for a moment, considering his answer. He had an idea because of the rumors and from the bits that Naruto had told him vaguely, but he never confirmed the truth verbally. “Just a little, he told me he had a lot of brothers that had no blood relation to him, and Uzumaki’s name was quite famous because the name is the same as the yakuza clan’s name that controlled some parts of this city. I assume that the rumors about him are true then, that he was once the heir of a yakuza family.”

Kushina smiled, not looking at Sasuke. “Yes, but he still _is_ the heir of the family.”

Sasuke frowned. “I thought he and his dad got out.”

Kushina’s smile widened a bit. “They did, yes. But it doesn’t mean we agree to let go.”

Sasuke began to sweat again, feeling a bit uncomfortable with her smile. “You have to, though. If the divorce is valid then Arashi-san… _dad_ got the full custody of Naruto until he turned 20. Unless you want to violate the law—,” _Shit._ Sasuke almost bit his own tongue when he shut his mouth suddenly, and cursed inwardly as he remembered who she was. Of course… she was a yakuza. What was he thinking? Violating the law was in her family’s job description.

“True, such predicament indeed,” Kushina sighed slightly. “Unless Naruto himself wants to come back, with his own free will, that is.” She turned to Sasuke then, her smile calculating and very cunning and Sasuke immediately got very worried if somehow he-himself would become something that would force Naruto to go back to her and her family.

“If you think of using me as a leverage—!”

“Relax, I’m not that desperate to have him back,” she cut Sasuke’s sentence, causing him to snap his mouth shut. “ _That boy_ needs his _rest_. When _he_ wakes up, _he_ ’ll come back to me on his own.”

“Then why am I here?” Sasuke demanded. _Well_ , inwardly, since he only asked politely on the outside.

“You’re here for another reason.” Kushina smiled cheerily now. “I believe Naruto is in trouble at the moment because one of his _old friends_ is being childish and wants to trouble him. And she won’t stop unless someone stops her. And the guy who can stop her is unavailable at the moment, so… you should do it.”

“Huh?” Sasuke was confused. “Naruto is trying to stop her, though.”

“Yeah, but he won’t stand a chance.” Kushina huffed. “He’s not equipped enough to go against one of the _Jinchuurikis_ without losing an arm or a leg.”

Sasuke paled a bit hearing it. “It’s that dangerous…?”

Kushina nodded solemnly, “Unfortunately.”

“What makes you think _I_ can stop her?” Sasuke’s frown deepened.

“Well, you must have an idea how to stop her. You’re an Uchiha after all,” she chuckled lightly while glancing at Sasuke knowingly and Sasuke couldn’t help thinking.

_What the hell does that mean?_

**~Sasu x Naru~**

Naruto skidded to a stop as he saw the scene in front of him inside the ‘secret chamber’ that used to be his and Jinchuuriki’s hide out when they were still active. Sitting on the ‘throne’—that was how his old friends used to call the biggest chair in the room as a joke when he sat there—was the girl he hadn’t seen in six months since the group break-up.

“Yugi—!”

Yugito raised her index finger that effectively cut Naruto’s word. “Use the other name, _hon_ ,” she lifted her face and showed her violet eyes. “I miss you,” she smiled.

Naruto gulped, looking around a bit warily. “Where’s Kiba?” Her smile widened slightly. “What did you do to him?” Naruto was honestly worried because Yugito was one thing, but Matatabi wasn’t stable. She never was and she tended to get very violent when something didn’t go as her wish.

“Aww, such aloofness… after six months of not seeing each other, you won’t even ask how I’ve been?” Matatabi feigned a hurt look and Naruto turned to face her once more, rather alarmed. “But that’s what I love about you, _Kurama_.”

Naruto didn’t see her move. Just in a blink of an eye and she was already in front of him and her hand was on his neck and his back was suddenly slammed on the wall with such inhuman force that he almost gagged.

“Let me see _him_. You’re there aren’t you, Kurama?” She whispered near his ear and Naruto couldn’t help choking as her grip on his neck tightened. He wanted to answer her, but he couldn’t speak with his throat pressured and his airway cut like that.

Naruto gripped her wrist, but he didn’t dare to use his full strength as he squeezed. He needed her to get the vicious hand off of his neck, but he was reluctant to hurt her either. “M-Ma…ta-…tabi…!” he gritted his teeth as he tried to speak difficulty.

“Yes, dear?” Matatabi looked up at him from under her eyelashes. She sounded and looked playful, but really… her strength was no kidding. If she cut his oxygen supply any longer, Naruto was positive he would pass out.

“Cut it… out…!” Naruto gritted his teeth, trying to hold down his own strength as he pulled at her wrist.

“Not listening~,” She half sang as Naruto could feel the increase of pressure on his neck.

This was bad. He began to feel light headed. If this continued he would lose his consciousness for real and who knew what would happen if he lost it? _He_ might come back and that was a big NO.

As Naruto was getting more cornered, his fighting instinct took over and he raised one of his leg to knee the girl’s stomach in front of him. Though, Matatabi was fast in detecting the movement and hurriedly jumped back away to avoid the surprise attack, having to release Naruto’s neck in the process. She pouted as Naruto hacked and coughed hard as soon as his wind pipe was free from her clutch.

“That’s rude! And mean!” Matatabi complained. “I only wanted to see Kurama! Naruto is stingy!” She looked like she was about to start crying, but Naruto knew better. She was a _Jinchuuriki_ for a reason after all.

“I’m fine being stingy,” Naruto croaked, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. “Matatabi, you shouldn’t seek that guy out anymore. He’s no longer _here_.” Naruto pushed himself up using the wall as a support.

Matatabi’s expression turned slightly more serious. “Liar,” she hissed before starting to walk right and left, her fists clenching and unclenching beside her body. She seemed agitated but never let her eyes stray from Naruto. “I know Kurama. He wouldn’t just walk away from us...!” She stopped her motion before sharpening her glare on Naruto. “You did this...! You sent him away. How. Dare. You!”

In a flurry of motion, Matatabi started to attack Naruto again, but he was ready to dodge her fist and ‘claws’ by jumping back and then started to sideline her every move so as not to get hit. Some of her attacks were easy to dodge because she was quite distracted, but it had been awhile since Naruto’s last spar with another member of Jinchuuriki. He had to take hits twice or more to familiarize himself once again with her fighting style and prowess.

By the time Naruto was _confident_ to follow her movement, he started to attack back. And once he got her cornered, he was about to take a hold on her wrist when he felt another... _multiple_ presences in the room. Naruto’s instinct to move away as soon as possible from Matatabi was proven right once again when he unintentionally dodged a swing of metal bat aiming at his head from behind.

“Hyuuu! He’s fast!”

A girl’s voice exclaimed, and she sounded very excited as Naruto landed and turned to her. “Who are you?” he narrowed his eyes at the messy long orange haired girl that supported a silver metal bat on her hand and her shoulder.

“Name’s Karui. Yugito-sama’s body guard, boy. And I won’t let you lay a finger on her,” she pointed the top of her bat at Naruto’s face. Her expression looked merciless.

Naruto gritted his teeth. “She started it! I only want to take my friend back from her!”

“Hmm... but Kumo Gumi wouldn’t move unless there was any provocation. You must have done something first to earn our _Ojou_ ’s wrath.” Karui smirked as she tapped the head of her metal bat on her palm. “Everyone that makes Ojou’s angry is our family’s enemy, so... prepare to die!”

Karui attacked again with her metal bat and Naruto had to dodge the advance harder because she seemed to move faster and faster.

_She’s so friggin’ light on her feet!_

“Come on! Why are you only running around like a damned cockroach?! Come on! Come on! Come on!” Even in the unstoppable barrage of her metal bat-swings, Naruto kept his head clear and read her movement. He looked for an opening to deliver his own attack. He hoped he could end it with one blow because he didn’t want to rough her up too much. “You’re too cautious, boy! And they called you _the_ former boss of Jinchuuriki?! Don’t make me laugh!”

Naruto wouldn’t raise to her bait. He kept following the movement of her attack until he could find a pattern and when he finally was able to read and anticipate it, he intercepted the swing with his left hand, trying to soften the blow by flowing his own movement and then used the momentum of her own attack to slam the bat down to the concrete floor.

Karui widened her eyes and was about let go of her grip, but Naruto caught her wrist with his other hand before he pulled and spun it behind her back as he dropped her body down to the ground and then pinned her back with his knees. “Ack!”

“Don’t struggle!” Naruto warned as he pulled the bent arm on her back further up, causing her to grimace in pain. “I won’t hurt you too much if you stay still.”

Matatabi’s laugh was heard somewhere near the ‘throne’. “How nice, Naruto. You’re too soft as always.” She chuckled once and Naruto had to look upward from his captive to her only to see the pigtailed girl snap her finger and someone else entered the premise.

Naruto widened his eyes as he saw Kiba being dragged out forcefully by a guy with straight, neck-length blond hair. His hand was bound behind his back and his mouth was taped. There was bruise and dried blood on the spot above his left eye, part of his front gakuran was undone and there were some dark spots on his white shirt. Not to mention, he also looked mighty pissed off.

“Kiba!” Naruto yelled.

“Hngrt!” Kiba looked surprised as he saw him.

“Ah-ah! Don’t move!” the blond guy that had Kiba on his collar took out a flip-pocket knife and put it on his throat. “Unless you want me to cut his carotid artery,” he grinned manically, causing both Naruto and Kiba to pale.

“Hold it! Don’t hurt him!” Naruto shouted, suddenly very afraid. He almost forgot that he dealt with Yakuza. Even though Jinchuuriki never used this kind of dirty method, the yakuza family in general was never very nice if someone antagonized their leader. Jinchuuriki was famous because they were strong and undeniably brutal, but what made them very scary were those different Yakuza groups that backed every single of their member respectively. Naruto at the time was backed up by Kyuubi Gumi and Uzumaki Clan, Nii Yugito and Killer Bee were backed up by Kumo Gumi. There was also a special case like Utakata who didn’t belong with any yakuza family, but at the time people in underground world already knew his alias as a very formidable assassin. The others were also quite dangerous with their powerful back up which Naruto didn’t bother to remember sometimes because Jinchuuriki was his and he never had to deal with those family that backed them first hand.

Now, though… he wished he had known more about those families. Then Naruto would have some kind of leverage to prevent his former member to use them against Naruto, like at this moment.

“Yugito!” Naruto yelled at her angrily. “This is violating the rule! You can’t use _my_ subordinate like this to intimidate me!”

“Why?” Matatabi smirked. “I’m not a Jinchuuriki anymore. Jinchuuriki is gone. That’s what you said, right? I’m not bound by those rules you made for the group that no longer exists.”

_Damn it!_

“Come on, be reasonable. Kiba has nothing to do with us back then! Let him go and I’ll do what you want!”

“Hngh! Hrn Nrt!” Kiba shouted even though his voice was muffled. He shook his head frantically, as if protesting at Naruto.

“You, shut up!” Naruto turned to face Kiba and pointed at him, a vein popped at his head. “Don’t spur them anymore.” Then, he looked once again at Matatabi who gave him a calculating eyes. “Well? How about it? It’s not a terrible deal, right? I’ll do whatever you want in exchange of Kiba’s freedom.” He negotiated.

“Anything?” she asked and Naruto’s eyes twitched slightly. Maybe he was too hasty to promise that kind of thing, but as long as it was in his range of capabilities, he could always try.

“No killing or violating the law though…” Naruto muttered, sweating a bit.

“Then… I want my Kurama back,” Matatabi smiled. Naruto’s stomach churned at that. “Bring him back to me, Naruto.”

_The one thing that’s most impossible to do…_

“That… that can’t be done.” Naruto rebuffed, paling severely.

“Why not!? I only want one thing! I want my Kurama back!” Now she looked furious and stomped towards him with purpose.

“Wait! What are you—?!” Naruto was surprised because she didn’t seem to care that he had one of her subordinates pinned to the ground and she came to him with balled fist. “Don’t come any closer or I swear I’ll break her hand!”

“You do that and your friend is dead!” the blond guy brought the knife closer until the eye nicked Kiba’s neck. Kiba froze all movement.

_Shit!_

Naruto couldn’t create any situation which gave him any advantage at this point as Matatabi carelessly stood in front of him and raised her hand before she slapped him on the cheek.

_Ouch!_

“You’re terrible! Why are you trying to separate me from Kurama?! You know how I feel about him! You were there too!”

The other three occupants in the room aside Naruto and Matatabi stared at them, dumbfounded.

“Wait, Yugi—!” Naruto released Karui and stood up as Matatabi jabbed his chest with her index finger.

“You’re the worst! I only want Kurama to come back to me… to us! We were good together! But then you…! You did something so horrible…! You hide him! What’s the deal! I still can’t accept that you break our group just like that without explanation whatsoever! I hate you!” Matatabi then started to pound his chest with her fists even though they lacked her strength as if she wasn’t serious in delivering them, yet she seemed desperate, erratic, and her voice cracked and wavered as if she was about to cry. “I hate you…!” and now she rested her forehead on Naruto’s chest. Both her hands clenched the material of Naruto’s uniform.

“Why… why, Naruto…?” She sobbed then and Naruto knew that this wasn’t Matatabi anymore, but Nii Yugito. Yugito cried miserably. “Why…?”

“ _Ojou_ …!” Karui and the blond guy looked shocked as they saw their young mistress slowly breaking. Kiba seemed still stunned as he watched the spectacle.

“I’m sorry… but I can’t bring him back. I didn’t hide him. He disappeared.” Naruto closed his eyes, feeling regretful that he caused his former subordinate to cry like that, but he didn’t regret _his_ disappearance. After all, Kurama had lost control and he was about to devour Naruto’s personality. Kurama _hated_ sharing a body with Naruto. Before long one of them _had to_ disappear. It was lucky that Naruto was strong enough to stay and even though he had to go to the extreme to drive Kurama away, it was the right choice in the end.

 _“Naruto… Naruto… you can’t stay like this forever.”_ _Arashi’s soft voice was heard beside Naruto whose face, arms and chest were bandaged. “If you stay like this… you’ll break sooner or later. What could possibly be cultivated from violence and brutality every single day? Nothing… nothing can be gained from them. Violence only gives birth to other violence. It’s not worth your body, your mind and your life, so please… please stop this madness…!”_

Naruto remembered how his dad cried that day. Naruto was life-threateningly injured in a fight involving Jinchuuriki and other gang members. His group was of course victorious, but he almost died and Arashi looked like he was about to keel over seeing his son hurt that badly. After Naruto woke up from a two days coma, Arashi had hugged him and cried while holding him dearly, saying that he couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t stand and watch his son get killed like this. He wouldn’t let it happen like that, so that day… that day marked the day when Arashi gave an ultimatum to take Naruto away from Kyuubi Gumi.

Naruto didn’t really know what Arashi did, but he got away with it, with Naruto by his side. He got Naruto out of the family.

Coincidentally, it was also the day _Kurama_ disappeared.

Naruto didn’t remember much what happened actually, but he remembered an extreme fear, as if he was about to get devoured and gone himself, and the next thing he knew, he was in the hospital and his dad and Gaara were there, but suspiciously the other members of Jinchuuriki were absent along with his mom.

Naruto hadn’t seen his birth mother since. Arashi wouldn’t let him and he didn’t really want to see her anyway. Because for her… her _son_ wasn’t Naruto. It was _Kurama_.

“I’m sorry…” Naruto apologized again, placing his hands on Yugito’s shoulder for comfort.

Yugito was still sobbing for a while until it abruptly stopped. “Unforgivable…!”

Naruto’s body hair stood on end as he heard the growl.

“Only you… standing between me and _my_ Kurama…!” Yugito slowly looked up and her face was very scarily mad as her eyes turned even more violet before she activated her weapon, the claw-like fist rings, and then started to slash Naruto from his left clavicle to the end of his right hip.

“Fuck!” Naruto wasn’t able to dodge it on time that his shirt and along with some of his skin got cut. Blood seeped out from the slash wounds. Luckily, they weren’t that deep and no big artery seemed to get nicked, or else his blood would have spurted out more heavily.

“Nrht!” Kiba enlarged his eyes in panic as he started to struggle again and because the blond guy behind him was distracted before, his hold on Kiba was a bit loose that he finally could escape by kicking the guy’s shin.

Naruto heard the guy curse as Kiba ran and stumbled to him, also while trying to remove the tape that sealed his mouth. “Naruto!”

“Kiba!”

“Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!”

Naruto was surprised when so suddenly, Matatabi started to barrage him with her weapon, slashing them around randomly, unpredictably, unreadably, that Naruto had difficulty to dodge all of them in time.

Honestly, it had been awhile since his serious fight involving any weapon at all. Naruto wasn’t exactly a genius at fighting. He had _trained_ hard to read his opponent movement. Lately his only partners for those trainings were either high school level or too friendly to be called serious and now he paid for the negligence with innumerable slash wounds on his skin. Even though they weren’t that deep, they still stung and bleed quite moderately.

“Shit—!” Naruto delivered a kick to Matatabi’s weapon in attempt to stop her assaulted, but a yelp from Kiba once again distracted him that he failed to notice Matatabi’s other hand coming closer with a small pocket knife and only when he felt that sharp pain on his right side that he finally realized he had been stabbed with the edge. “Fuck—!”

“Naruto!” Kiba screamed in horror as Naruto fell on his knees, then his body slumped on the ground with his right hand putting pressure on the wound that bleed almost profusely while Matatabi was standing over him with little victorious smirk on her face.

“Serve you right,” she scoffed coldly.

“You bitch!” Kiba looked enraged like a mad dog now and he was about to bite Matatabi’s head off when he was caught once again by his captor, the blond guy, along with Karui who smacked Kiba’s stomach with the metal bat to subdue him. “Gah!” Kiba’s gasp of pain and the sound of his body falling down forced Naruto to shout once again, despite his uncomfortable crouching position.

“Stop it! Don’t hurt him!” Naruto looked upward and glared daggers at the two people that manhandled his subordinate. He was in pain and he felt a bit faint with the amount of blood dripping from the stab wound on his stomach, but he still wouldn’t let them hurt Kiba more than they already did. “Try and I’ll kill you.”

Naruto didn’t know how he looked at the moment, but it must have been murderous enough that both Karui and the guy seemed to freeze, their face paling slightly as their eyes caught Naruto’s.

“Oh…!” Matatabi gasped, dropping the pocket knife as her hand went to her mouth. She looked positively ecstatic. “Kurama…!” She murmured, almost crying poignantly.

 _Shit…!_ —Naruto shifted his hard eyes at her, and he knew that awestruck look. It was her way of looking at _him_ , at Naruto’s other half. But that was wrong, because he was _only_ Naruto now. His eyes might have changed color now and then when he was angry and desperate enough, but he wasn’t Kurama. Not anymore.

“You’re wrong, Matatabi…!” Naruto panted, struggling to get up despite the quite excruciating sting. He gritted his teeth and barred his fangs at her. “That guy is _gone_. Either accept it or scram.” He huffed as he was able to stand. His wounds throbbed sharply, but he ignored it.

“Wha— but, how?!” Matatabi looked shocked. “How come you’re still Naruto when your eyes—!”

“Kurama is _dead_!” Naruto cut sharply, causing her to gasp in dreadfulness. “There’s only me now…” He lowered his voice and softened his expression. “Please understand…” He wasn’t above begging at this point. “Let him go… Matatabi… Yugito…”

“No…!” Matatabi shook her head, her pupil constricting and she looked positively losing it. “NO! NO! NO!”

“Matatabi!”

Someone else entered the premise, and that voice… it was Bee. Naruto looked at the entrance from where he had come from and almost chuckled in relief at the concerned look Bee showed. “You’re so slow… _uncle_ ,” he whispered slowly.

“Stop it already, Matatabi. Let Yugito take over,” Bee’s eyes flickered from violet to grey behind his sunglasses as he gazed carefully at the still agitated girl before he shifted his gaze at Karui and the guy that was once again holding down Kiba. “You too, Karui, Atsui, let Kiba-boy go.”

“B-Bee-sensei!” Both the boy and the girl stood up hastily. “Wait, wait, what? Why is Bee-sensei aiding the enemy?” they looked confused, but Kiba didn’t seem to want to pass that chance to free himself so he did, immediately running to Naruto, and then he fussed over his most severe wound totally in a worried hiss.

“Naruto is not an enemy, so is the boy. Matatabi is just messing around because she’s too childish and in denial to let go of something that is gone,” Bee growled, no. From the hardened and the lowered tone of voice, it was probably Gyuuki who was speaking. “Involving Kumo Gumi over juvenile spat… that’s something only a kid will do, Matatabi. Are you going to make Yugito cry again?”

Matatabi made a wounded noise. She glared at Gyuuki and sniffed. “Kurama is not dead!” she screamed, her eyes full of unshed tears.

“He’s gone. Accept it.” Gyuuki narrowed his eyes.

“Never!” Matatabi snarled, still rejecting the idea vehemently.

Gyuuki sighed morosely. “If you go any further… you won’t be able to come back. Yugito… control that beast of yours.”

Matatabi gasped in shock once before her eyes started to flicker, as if Yugito was awoken forcefully and now her body was confused on how to decide which personality should appear. “H-how dare…!” Matatabi made a high pitched, betrayed noise as her eyes slowly turned grey-blue once again. “Bee- _ojisan_ …!” Now tears pooled in her eyes and once again, she cried, falling to her knees and shedding tears behind her palms that covered her face.

“But I love him… I love him so much… Please make the pain stop… please…!” She sobbed harder and Gyuuki sighed once again while Karui and Atsui stared at their mistress with sympathetic look on their faces.

“ _Ojou_ …”

Naruto felt he was about to cry himself. He knew how much she… _they_ loved that guy. Kurama… he was charismatic, cruel and strong. He was the spotlight of underground world, the one fitting to rule Kyuubi Gumi one day. He was different from Naruto. Honestly, Naruto didn’t like violence at all. Nope. If it wasn’t because of Kurama, he wouldn’t train his body days and nights so it could bear the pain of beating people or getting beaten up, to read movement so his body could come out victorious in every fight. Kurama had no fear and qualm to break his body down because Naruto was the one who had to deal with the painful aftermath. It was always like that… _always_. Kurama was instinct and Naruto was reason. Reason always got pushed back, swallowed by instinct whenever they fought together.

And it would be too late if Naruto didn’t do something about it, so he did. He drove Kurama away, killing _him_ completely so he wouldn’t be taken over again. Never again. Because Kurama was too scary, always going too far and uncontrollable when he did something. He had to be stopped no matter what.

“Yugito… I know how you feel, but _he_ …” Naruto stopped. More than anyone else, he knew how Kurama felt, because Naruto was there. He felt what Kurama felt. Kurama had indeed dated Matatabi and Yugito, and he never differentiated them. But that… that was because Kurama didn’t feel the same way about her.

Kurama was cold and had no remorse. He was incapable of feeling ‘love’. Even so, how could he tell Yugito _that_ when she was very much in love with _him_? “He loved you too, you know?” So Naruto lied. Kurama wasn’t around anymore to set the truth anyway. “So please… let him go…” He rasped, winced and groaned at the pain on his right side. He was about to keel over for real at this point. His eyes was getting blurred.

“Naruto! Hang on!” Kiba shouted, slapping Naruto’s cheek lightly to keep him awake. “Shit—! He’s bleeding too much! Hey, _ossan_! Please tell me you at least call an ambulance!”

“Ah? Well… about that…” Bee scratched his cheek a bit contritely, Kiba seemed frantically apprehensive and Naruto didn’t really know what happened next when there was a sudden ruckus at the entrance. It was getting very fuzzy and hazy and—

“Freeze! It’s the police! Drop your weapon!”

Naruto heard a voice that was quite familiar between the panicked screech and shriek of _‘Holy shit! It’s the government’ dogs! Quick, run!’_ of the people inside the place, but he had difficulty in focusing right then. His consciousness was fading and—

“Naruto! Naruto, hang on! Oi!”

 _Is that…?_ —in his fading vision, Naruto somehow saw Sasuke’s concerned face. _Heh… to think he can make such expression too…_

And then, everything went completely dark.

**~Sasu x Naru~**

_**Two days later…** _

“So…” Naruto felt the vein on his temple pop out. “Exactly, why are you guys here?” He opened his eyes and stared at the crowds in his hospital room with twitching eyes.

“Yahaa, Naru-chan! It’s been awhile!” Fuu grinned at him while waving cheerily from the sofa in the middle of the private VIP room.

“That’s rude. I even took today off from school for a visit because I heard you were mortally wounded, Naruto. What’s with the scowl?” Yagura huffed at him from beside his bed, crossing his arms and looking offended.

“You kind of worried us there for a second, boy,” Rossi sighed at him and Han nodded beside the old man with serious look at Naruto’s bed other side.

“That’s right~ that’s totally~ totally right, Naru-boy! You’ve become rusty in defending yourself, bro!” Bee’s rap was heard from the other side of the sofa and Naruto felt like throttling the guy.

 _Whose fault is it that I had to take Matatabi on by myself?!_ —He glared at Bee, but then he huffed and sighed once again.

“Whatever… I didn’t think my injury would bring you guys out of your territory though…” Naruto carefully laid back down, sighing slightly as the pain eased up a little. He had been on good medication right after he was admitted to the hospital, but he tried not to use too much pain killer after two days, didn’t want to be too dependent on those stuffs. Luckily, his stabbing wound didn’t nick any important organ like his liver or his intestines, but some arteries were cut, so the bleeding was quite massive. He was thankful enough that there was no organ damage or lingering internal bleeding, though. Apparently Matatabi was conscious enough that creating mortal wound would land her and Yugito into a bigger mess, so she had calculated that he would live through the pain. That cunning _bakeneko_.

“Sheesh, that’s cold, Naruto! Aren’t we friends? Of course we will come if you’re hurt!” Fuu pouted at him and Yagura snorted.

“But Matatabi really got you, huh? What’s her problem anyway?” Yagura grouched as he sat on the bed beside Naruto’s prone body.

“She just missed Kurama,” Naruto closed his eyes. “She wanted to see him.”

There was silence in the room until Naruto got curious and opened his eyes again, seeing his friends with almost concerned look. “What’s with the look?”

“He’s not around anymore, is he?” Rossi quietly asked.

“No,” Naruto shook his head. “He’s gone for good.”

Rossi and Han glanced at each other cryptically and Yagura looked the other way while Fuu gave him a rather forced smile. “What?” Naruto was a bit miffed at their strange expression.

“Naruto, the last time we saw Kurama…”

“Fuu,” Utakata’s sharp voice from somewhere in the room cut the girl’s tentative speech. As always, Naruto didn’t detect his presence around before the guy spoke. It was honestly rather creepy.

“Utakata? So you’re here too…” Naruto blinked and saw the black haired man in kinagashi sitting on a chair at the far corner of the wide room, nearing the kitchen set. No wonder he didn’t see him earlier.

“It’s good enough if you’re still alive,” Utakata stood, gesturing like he was about to leave.

“Ah sheesh, Utakata is always so _tsundere_. Even though he was the most worried when we heard the news that Naru-chan was hospitalized,” Fuu huffed with a fond exasperation.

“Fuu,” Utakata scowled at her, his cheeks dusted pink slightly, while the girl thrust out her tongue at him with a teasing look.

“I see,” Naruto’s sweat dropped. “So… what did you want to say just now, Fuu? About the last time you guys saw Kurama?” He focused once again and asked the green haired girl.

“Ah, about that…” Fuu hesitated, playing with the tip of her shoulder-length hair.

“It’s nothing important, Naruto,” Utakata answered again and Naruto gave him a stink eye.

“Why are you answering for Fuu, Utakata?”

“Because she was about to say redundant thing that would only stress you out unnecessarily,” Utakata looked at Naruto with a cool gaze. “Kurama’s gone for good, you said it yourself. No need to concern yourself about him anymore, right?”

Naruto was silent for a while before letting out a deep sigh. “Oh well… that’s true, I guess.” He smiled slightly then, looking at his former Jinchuuriki’s members. If Gaara and Yugito were there, it would be a complete set. His red haired friend seemed to be still in school for the day and Yugito was probably being grounded by her dad for causing trouble in Konoha. Sasuke also hadn’t shown up again after he left early this morning, probably also still in school. Itachi had gone for an hour to get some food for himself.

“Thank you for coming to see me. I’m glad I haven’t lost your friendship despite our group break-up half a year ago. I know some of you probably are still questioning the reason why I disbanded Jinchuuriki, but…” Naruto paused, taking a deep breath, “But, I appreciate your willingness to hear my selfishness.”

“It’s alright, Naruto. We subconsciously noticed that Kurama was being a burden to you. Even though you two almost never communicated to each other before, you seemed greatly inconvenienced in the aftermath of his fight.” Yagura frowned. “We never brought it up because we weren’t sure, but… the fact that it cornered you enough until you had no choice but to pick one of the two… We’re sorry because we couldn’t be the strength for you to rely on at the time.” The middle school boy looked like he regretted it.

“Yagura…” Naruto looked at the younger boy feeling touched. Then he remembered it. “Huh, so… I heard you started to gather a lot of followers again, what was that about?” he asked curiously.

“Ah, that… Well, I kinda missed being in a group, so I indeed gathered some people to play. I promise it’s nothing bad, just occasional friendly fight here and there around my area, but… uh, for some reason lately the number of members becomes ridiculous and then when I realize it, they already start to call me _banchou_ …” A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek, looking a bit nervous.

Naruto snorted. “Maybe your hidden identity is revealed, you know? That you’re the Sandaime of Kiri Gumi?”

“No way! No one knows about that!” Yagura denied it fervently before he blinked as he seemed to realize something. “Wait. Hold on! How did _you_ know about that?!” He accusingly pointed at Naruto in shock and disbelief.

“Did you seriously just ask me that?” Now it was Naruto’s sweat that rolled down of his head.

“Yagu-chan is quite dense too. Of course Naru-chan knows. He’s the heir of Kyuubi Gumi! It was standard procedure to check the background of his _friends_ to ensure his safety in the group!” Fuu lectured smartly and Yagura scowled at her while calling her rude.

“ _Was_ , Fuu. I’m not the heir anymore after Dad brought me out of the Family,” Naruto corrected. “I’m also glad to be out though… honestly being in there suffocated me a lot, so… maybe this is the freedom that I desire for so long…” Naruto smiled ruefully.

“Naru-chan…” Fuu looked at him emotionally.

“Ah,” then Naruto remembered one more thing. “Fuu… was Choumei really looking for sponsor in _Red Light_ district?”

“Eh?” Fuu looked startled for a moment before she replied again, “Ah… well, heheh, yes.”

“But… in Red Light district? You still hang around in a place like that? I thought you quit that night job of yours ages ago!” Naruto protested, quite worried actually. Fuu… no, actually more Choumei than Fuu, though. She used to be a singer in a bar in Red Light district before she joined Jinchuuriki. It was her persona night job while her day job was a student in a local university. She had a lot of obsessive stalkers, and she was quite often followed by those sick bastards. Choumei… well, let’s say that she could take care of herself a bit too well for a girl her age. Choumei wasn’t violent by nature, but she could make a person disappear without a trace if she wanted to.

Naruto suspected that she was the same as Utakata’s Saiken, though he never actually saw the deed. But everyone that followed her ended up _missing_ the next day. No dead _body_ was ever found, though.

“Ah, don’t take it the wrong way. Those sponsors are for a good cause. Chou-chan isn’t doing anything dirty or illegal. We’re trying to open up a clinic in that place. You know, many people in the night service industry are in high risk of getting STDs, right? I and a bunch of my med faculty friends are raising funds to open the clinic there, to prevent the STDs getting around. Choumei’s name is quite popular in there, and it’s easier to get the sponsor to notice us if I use her name. So, I borrow her name and popularity to attract sponsors, at least until they hear our proposal,” Fuu explained, grinning widely in excitement.

“Ooh! That’s great! You’ve become such respectable med student, huh… Fuu? That’s really awesome,” Naruto felt happy that at least one of his former Jinchuuriki lived a good life.

“Yeah, though sometimes I miss being with you guys… but I live quite a happy life now, and there’s nothing that I regret even though there’s no Jinchuuriki anymore,” Fuu looked at Naruto with a fond smile then. “All because of you, Naru-chan. Because you gave us strength when we were in our most desperate, vulnerable moment. You reached your hand to us that time, pulled us together and called us family. You have no idea what that meant for me.” Fuu stood and walked to the bed before she bent and took Naruto’s hands in her. “You saved us. Thank you.” She leant forward and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

Naruto widened his eyes in surprise at that. He never knew… well, he never intended to help them that way, though. He thought he just needed members with different specialty in Jinchuuriki, and Kurama agreed that it was safer that way, but… everyone in Jinchuuriki had their opposite other halves that couldn’t be controlled unless there was someone else with them. He thought they would be less dangerous if there was someone that could stop them when they went berserk.

Though, judging from the poignant expression his friends sent his way, and Yagura’s embarrassed look, Naruto guessed that maybe… maybe it was alright to believe them. That they weren’t really mad and too disappointed even though he wasn’t Kurama anymore. Maybe he had thought wrong from the start. He thought Jinchuuriki was there because of Kurama’s existence, but in truth…

_It’s because I want to have a place for ‘Naruto’ with the other people that know the difference between me and Kurama._

“Ditto,” Naruto answered with the softest smile he could muster and somehow, everyone in the room looked amazed as they saw Naruto’s expression.

“Naru-chan… so cuuuuuute!” Fuu immediately hugged him in excitement while the other blushed slightly, Yagura looking completely flustered while the others coughed in embarrassment.

 _Wait, what’s going on?_ —Naruto though, could only wonder why his friends reacted that way.

**~Sasu x Naru~**

_**In the evening…** _

Sasuke opened the door to Naruto’s VIP hospital room. He went inside and blinked at the sight of the blond sound asleep on his bed. He sighed slightly as he looked at the peaceful face his step brother made in his sleep. His blanket was a bit askew with the way the teen moved around in his sleep, so he pulled it up and fixed it to cover Naruto’s body properly.

“Nnh…” Naruto grunted slightly as he changed position again and winced as he seemed to feel the pain from the wound on his side. “Ouch…” he grunted and slowly opened his eyes.

Sasuke hadn’t pulled his hands away when Naruto saw him. “Sasuke?” He sounded confused, eyes still bleary from sleep.

Sasuke let go of the blanket to back off. “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Naruto shook his head slightly before he yawned and rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost 6 p.m.” Sasuke answered before he took a seat on a stool near the bed. “How long did you sleep?” He thought Naruto was already off sedative and pain killer, but the guy still spent his time sleeping the day away.

“Hunh… two hours? Everyone left around 4 p.m., so… I guess,” Naruto shrugged. “How’s school?”

“Messy as always. Without the boss around, the black gakuran students seem to be more agitated and temperamental these days,” Sasuke smirked. “You’re vey loved by your subordinates, huh?”

“Wasn’t Gaara there to maintain order?” Naruto tried to sit up from his position so Sasuke helped him a bit by adding some pillows so he could laid back half sitting and resting his back more comfortably.

“He was. Every time he glared at someone, they shut their mouth.” Sasuke chuckled.

“As always, he’s too intimidating for his own good,” Naruto shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “If only he could communicate better… he’s actually very popular among the girls.”

“What about you? Aren’t you popular too… among the troublemaker?” Sasuke chuckled and Naruto huffed.

“Is that a sarcasm?”

Sasuke laughed lightly at his face. Naruto might think he was scowling, but the blond looked more like pouting at the moment. Honestly, he looked cute. Sasuke didn’t know why he thought that, but despite the bandage on his numerous wounds, Naruto was indeed very attractive in that bad boy way. Sasuke wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he had to at least admit that to himself, especially after his conversation with Naruto’s mother two days ago.

Speaking about two days ago…

“You haven’t submitted your report,” Sasuke reminded him.

“That can’t be helped. I’m in a hospital right now,” Naruto grumbled.

“Kiba is bitching to everyone, including Shino, that you’re an idiot that’s too good for your own good,” Sasuke ignored Naruto’s feeble protest and continued. “You love your subordinates way too much. If you had ignored the threat, they would have released Kiba eventually, he said. So, why did you go to so much trouble to free him only for you to get beaten up to a pulp? If you fought back as hard, those guys would be the one being hospitalized instead of you.”

Naruto just scoffed. “Kiba is an ungrateful ass who talks too much. He’s just upset that Shino got involved and he didn’t get any chance to fight and had to be rescued like damsel in distress,” he snickered then.

“True, he was quite upset since you got hurt because of him,” Sasuke added knowingly and Naruto’s eyebrows twitched slightly at that. “Better talk to him before he becomes unbearable to deal with,” he suggested and Naruto sighed deeply, looking resigned.

“Alright… I’ll talk to him when I see him,” Naruto nodded.

“And… I’m quite annoyed too, you know,” Sasuke crossed his arms.

“Huh? Why?” Naruto looked at him with mystified eyes.

“When I got there two days ago, Itachi was already there.” Sasuke was offended that Itachi knew about the incident before him. After that he devised a plan to save Naruto by pretending to be a policeman while he instructed Sasuke to call an ambulance so all the injured could be treated immediately. He really wondered how Itachi knew the procedure of rescuing civilian from a gang fight, but he hadn’t asked him in detail about it. He even brought the paramedics inside the building and then successfully scared all the perpetrators to flee the scene.

“Ita-nii was still there?” Naruto looked surprised.

“Believe it or not, Itachi pretended to be an officer and he scared those thugs away so the paramedics could treat you. You’re lucky we didn’t call the police for real, or you’d get in so much trouble,” Sasuke huffed.

“Why were you even there, Sasuke? Didn’t I say that black gakuran student’s problem is for Black gakuran student to deal with?” Now Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, accusing, probably thinking that Sasuke had no faith in him at all.

“Moron. Before being a black gakuran students’ boss, you’re my step brother first. I have a responsibility to keep your ass out of trouble by default,” Sasuke scowled and Naruto blinked in surprise.

“Sasuke…” Naruto looked at his step brother with slightly awed look. It caused Sasuke to be rather self-conscious, honestly. “You’re being… extra disgustingly sweet all of sudden. What’s got into your pants?” he continued with a deadpan.

A vein popped in Sasuke’s temple. Wrong. Multiple of them. The nerve of the idiot for insulting his concern! Sasuke decided to give the blond a lesson then. He dropped his gaze to Naruto’s eyes and made his expression deadly somber. “You must be dying to know, huh?” he asked, staring deeply into Naruto’s cerulean eyes.

“Eh?” Naruto looked startled and seemed captivated by Sasuke’s gaze.

Sasuke reached out both of his hands to grab Naruto’s shoulders and suddenly pushed his body to lay down on the bed and pinned him there, eyes never leaving Naruto’s own that the blond gasped in surprise. “W-wait, what—!”

“Naruto,” Sasuke lowered his gaze and leaned into the blond closely with purpose and Naruto’s cheeks turned red, a slightly panicked look in his face.

“W-wait, Sasuke! Wha—?!” He looked like he was about to struggle, but a slight wince told Sasuke enough that Naruto was still quite in pain from the healing wound on his side. Sasuke wasn’t nice enough to give that any mind, because Naruto needed to know that he had worried Sasuke quite a bit with his stunt.

“I’m not a nice enough person to wait for your bullshit,” Sasuke smirked and lowered his face more into Naruto. He could feel the Goosebumps and the shiver that ran in Naruto’s body under his palms, his face getting even redder until he turned aside while shutting his eyes hard.

Sasuke snickered inwardly. Naruto seemed to be weak to this kind of confrontation. If he had known how to make the blond shut his mouth when they were still hostile towards each other before, he would have done this sooner. Well, Sasuke only recently realized that he had a chance to appreciate Naruto’s fine physical aspect, and Naruto, despite his protest, didn’t seem to make any further effort to get out of such situation. Even if Sasuke had known before, he doubted he would do this to tease him.

Sasuke decided to take a step further and almost planted his lips on the boy’s neck, but then the sound of the door open followed closely by, “Naruto-kun, I brought you fruits from—,” Itachi blinked and stopped dead at the doorstep as he saw the scene.

_What a scene._

Sasuke froze in his spot and slowly turned to Itachi, sweating slightly while Naruto’s face officially burned red. “I-Ita-nii!” Naruto planted his hand on Sasuke’s cheek, apparently trying to push him away and the blond was so flustered that he panicked, though Sasuke didn’t plan on backing down. He dared Itachi to say something about it with his glare.

Itachi didn’t say anything as he came inside the room and closed the door, his eyes never leaving Sasuke and Naruto, his expression unreadable. “Oh, don’t mind me,” after a few seconds, he said. “Please do continue,” an amused, knowing smile adorned his handsome face.

“Wait a—! You’ve got it wrong! I-it’s not what it looks like!” Naruto shouted louder, his face getting redder if it was possible. “Sa-Sasuke was just trying to check the wound on my face closer! R-right?!” he turned to Sasuke now, his eyes looking desperately for some kind of rational explanation for their earlier strange mood and position.

Sasuke let out a huff and pulled back. “You’re getting in the way, Itachi,” he still wanted to embarrass the blond and teased him no matter what. Itachi getting the wrong impression be damned.

“What?!” As prediction, Naruto was ridiculously flabbergasted. “What the hell are you saying, Sasuke- _teme_!” and he feebly tried to punch Sasuke who easily dodged it, since Naruto’s range of movement was still limited by the pain.

Itachi just laughed as Sasuke kept teasing the blond for his embarrassment with innuendo and for that moment, Sasuke thought that he was actually quite okay with his family situation. It wasn’t perfect and there was still that ominous feeling he felt after speaking with Naruto’s birth mother, but… well, he could think about that thing later.

For now, though… Sasuke just felt relief that Naruto had come back in one piece.

  **I Want to Know You More (Part 4) END**

**Love Me, My Brother Tbc…**

* * *

 

**Additional Notes:**

**1) _Anee-san_ : **Big Sis (it’s how the personel address a woman in charge of a yakuza group, or the wife of the boss).

 **2) _Waka_ : **Young Master (how the personel address the heir of the yakuza group)

 **3) _Arashi_ : **The Storm*. It’s a pun, in case you don’t understand what she’s doing. Arashi means the ‘storm’ but it’s also Arashi’s (Naruto’s dad) name.

 **4) _Aniki_ : **Big Bro (same as anee-san, but it’s to address the male senior/personel in yakuza group, but not the boss)

 **5) _Ikebana_ : **flower arranging activity.

 **6) _Bakeneko_ : **Cat monster (it refers more to the ‘cat’ nature that is quite fickle when it comes to affection, rather than to the appearance)

 ** _7)Ojou:_** Young Mistress

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yah, sorry for the wait. Finally part 4 of this subtitle is done. Though the story is off way too much from the original script, at least I managed to put screen time for all the Jinchuurikis. I hope the excitement doesn’t lessen in this new direction. I got into trouble in how to write SasuNaru’s interaction in this chapter. I’m glad I can end this chapter with the teasing scene. Though in the original, it was Itachi that embarrassed both Sasuke and Naruto, but I thought Sasuke being more forward with his ‘slight’ attraction to Naruto would be funnier. Well, he hadn’t realized how he really felt for Naruto, though… let’s see what I can do in the next chapter to give some kind of divine intermediation for Sasuke to realize the nature of his feeling towards our favorite blond.
> 
> See you in next chapter!


End file.
